Taking to the Woods
by Herbblade
Summary: After annoying the Sheriff of Konoha, Naruto becomes an outlaw in the woods, devoted to harassing him. But as more people join Naruto's group, asking for real help, he must battle the Sheriff, and evil Prince, and trouble in his own band. AU/Robin Hood.
1. A Hanging

Taking to the Woods

Chapter One: A Hanging

----

The hanging of Uzumaki Naruto wasn't a highly publicized event. He was an unknown urchin in the minds of those who ordered his execution, and the general population was getting sick of public killings. So his last moments were scheduled as a quiet affair, taking place in the town square only because it was The Procedure, with little attention from anyone except the bums with nothing better to do.

Or, that's what the Sheriff of Konoha, Orochimaru, told himself it would be like. He'd been in charge of the cesspool these maggots called a town for almost six months when Uzumaki came to their attention, guilty of merely disturbing the peace. There was an entire marketplace to testify against the boy, but it wasn't until he made some rather rude remarks to the Sheriff that the death sentance was given.

Granted, the boy had given Orochimaru a good five minutes of entertainment, which was a new record, with his attempts at escape and continued shouting. But even that wouldn't save him from the noose, especially after he appeared to have given up struggling and accepted his fate. He'd sat quietly in his cell for days, just staring off into the distance. He didn't even mutter to himself, which the sheriff sighed over. The prisoner was merely quiet, not crazy.

It would have been an almost enjoyable morning for Orochimaru as he walked to the gallows, if not for that blasted noble. Lord Hyuuga Hiashi, Earl of Hizashi, was a very influential man with ties locally and all across the country. Orochimaru had no choice but to listen and pretend to care as the man begged him to spare the urchin boy's life.

"His father was a very trusted worker of mine, and I knew him when he was very small," The man had said.

Orochimaru's face didn't change, and Hiashi seemed to grow desperate, because he started trying to appeal to Orochimaru as a _person_, "I want to beat him into shape myself, you see. Hanging seems too… too easy. He left for ten years without a word; I want my settlement with the coward. I won't have anyone who's ever been under my roof hung for thievery."

--

_Ten years earlier…_

_A six-year-old girl clung to her father's side, but her eyes were fixed on the two figures standing in front of them. Her pale, pupil less eyes were wide, making her pale face seem paler and the short dark hair framing her face seem even darker. _

_Her father was very similar in appearance, but his hair was much blacker than his daughter's indigo hair and his face was sterner. They had the same almost-lilac eyes though, and even the older man's stern face couldn't hide the sadness that shone so clearly on both of their faces._

_The two people across from them were their near opposites. The older man's face wore a similar expression as the other adult, but even the serious look couldn't erase the fact that he looked like he should always be laughing. He had extremely long, spiky gray hair; dark eyes; and flamboyant clothing. The six-year-old boy with him was the same—his lost expression didn't match with his looks or apparent personality. _

_He had sunny, spiky blonde hair, wide blue eyes and whisker-like marks on his cheeks. He wore an oversized, orange tunic and his simple, light grey pants had a few grass stains on them already._

_The girl's father coughed. "I wish you luck on your journey, Lord Jiriya, and hope you have good luck with Naruto."_

_The other man, Jiriya, scratched the back of his head lazily. "Yeah, thanks for looking after him. I know you've all gotten over it, but I still don't believe Minato and Kushina… And I that it's been six years…" He sighed heavily._

_The first man shook his head, "No, we still carry their memories and deaths close to our hearts and always will. And as long as we remember the Uzumakis, you and Naruto are welcome here." He squeezed his daughter's shoulders and felt her shake as she realized the goodbyes were coming up._

_Jiriya cracked a smile. "Thank you, Lord Hyuuga; I'm sure Naruto will want to come back as soon as we leave. I think we'll take you up on that offer someday." He shoved the blonde boy forward to say his piece, turning to observe the house that his new charge had grown up in. It was a medium sized building, nestled between shops and facing the market place . A typical city house, cozy; but not as grand as the Hyuuga home a few miles to the north. Hiashi had rented it to stay close to the sheriff, his old friend, and the goings-on of Konoha._

_Naruto cleared his throat, uncharacteristically nervous. "Um, thank you, H—Lord Hyuuga, for letting me stay at your house and feeding me and stuff, and, um, goodbye." He turned to look at the little girl and put on a brave smile. "Bye, Hinata! Don't worry, I'll see you someday and we'll be bigger and you and Neji and me can go places without having to tell anyone! Okay?"_

_Hinata nodded sadly before breaking herself out of her father's embrace and running to hug her friend. "Bye-bye Naruto…"_

_Jiriya stepped forward as they broke apart and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, the other one reaching out to ruffle Hinata's hair. "I'll keep him safe, don't you worry. You just focus on growing up into a beautiful young lady, okay?" Naruto sent his new guardian a death glare, but Jiriya smiled benignly and ignored him._

_After shaking Hyuga Hiashi's hand, Jiriya steered Naruto away and the two walked down the road._

_Hinata sniffed and her father patted her back. "Come on, Hinata, let's go home. I'm sure Neji and Hanabi are waiting to make mud pies with you."_

"_Will he ever come back, Father?"_

"_I guarantee it." said Hiashi without a second thought. Whether he was lying or not was something he never shared with anyone, and Hinata smiled at her father's promise before breaking out of his hold again and running towards their home and her siblings._

--

Hiashi bit his lower lip, trying to look like a stern master and powerful Lord, while he was really unsure of how he could ever tell his children that Uzumaki Naruto had been hung by the Sheriff their father hadn't opposed.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was becoming bored again. The normally stoic Hyuuga was trying desperately not to grovel, but the prisoner wasn't showing any signs of hope or rekindled spirit. So not only were Hiashi's efforts wasted, but he was holding up the execution. Holding out his hand in a silencing motion, Orochimaru continued to ignore Hiashi even as the other man's face turned an indignant red.

The executioner, some faceless minion brought with the Sheriff from wherever he had come from, seemed mildly confused as to why the charges hadn't been read and the blond teenager wasn't swinging yet. His face became visibly less strained as Orochimaru pointed at his second-in-command, who cleared his throat.

"Uzumaki Naruto has been sentenced to, on this day, the fifteenth of May; hang by the throat until dead. He was found guilty of entering the city of Konoha illegally, attempting to break down the door of a private residence, resisting arrest in a particularly violent way and…" Kabuto paused to regain control of his facial expression before reading the last charge. "And calling his Lordship, the Sheriff, a 'snake-tongued freak of nature with girl hair,'" His face spasmed into a smile again, and a barking laughter was heard from one of the merchants setting his wares on one of the edges of the town square.

Orochimaru was not amused, and his bored façade cracked as his snake-like, yellow eyes narrowed. Kabuto motioned to the executioner, and the lever was pulled. The trapdoor under Naruto's feet dropped. The blond dropped too, but instead of stopping and breaking his neck on the rope as he was supposed to, he fell all the way through the door, hitting the ground a couple feet below without a scratch.

Orochimaru, Kabuto and the executioner all moved towards where he had fallen, and the guards all gaped. If anyone had looked at Hiashi, who had remained where he was, they would have seen a look of surprised triumph blooming, but no one did. They focused on the gallows, and it was Kabuto who first saw the arrow in wooden platform to the side of the trapdoor, and looked up to see a masked archer on the rampart, another arrow already aimed at Orochimaru's heart. It was the Sheriff himself who first saw the blond soon-to-be fugitive being helped out from under the gallows by another masked figure. As he opened his mouth to alert the guards, he was tackled to the ground by Kabuto. The odd situation was made clear when an arrow whizzed over his head as it fell.

He knocked Hyuuga over in his backwards path to the ground, and as the three of them all tried to leap up first, the masked rebels vanished, taking Uzumaki Naruto, the obviously not-so-common thief, with them.

----

Naruto had been falling, and had just thought that maybe he should welcome a quick death, when it didn't come. What did come was hitting the ground, and automatically being hassled by foreign hands.

"Get up, get up!" The voice that probably belonged to the hands urged him even as they grabbed his arm and yanked him up. If forced to guess, Naruto would say that the voice (and therefore, the hands) belonged to a younger boy. As they got out from under the platform, he decided his first guess had been right: the boy was at least four inches shorter than he was, and was still trying to shove the blond into a sprint towards the exit closest to the masked archer.

They met up with the archer at the intersection of the roads, and Naruto knew that as soon as they entered the bustling alleys and streets, they were home-free. But even when they were well into the growing crowds, his rescuers continued to push him along at a fast pace, looking behind them everytime they weren't worried about rounding a corner or a group of people.

But it wasn't until they had slipped out the city gates and were mounted on the two waiting horses that the masks and hoods were removed, and Naruto saw his saviors.

His mouth fell open.

The familiar face smirked proudly at him, stowing his bow away in a long saddle bag made just for it. His dark hair had grown long and straight, and his face looked much more like his father's now; but it was still the same person.

"_Neji_?! And who're—woah!" Naruto had turned to see his other savior, if only to distract himself from Neji, not sure who to expect; when he'd seen the soft brown hair and bright blue eyes. "You're a _girl_?!"

"Yes, I am," She looked down for her saddle and extended her hand, pulling him up so that he was seated behind her. "Just focus on staying on: Neji will explain things once we get farther away."

And with that, they took off, galloping for the forest. After a little while on the main road, still at a full gallop, they turned to a narrower path and were forced to slow down.

Naruto turned to Neji, clearly waiting for an explanation. When one wasn't automatically offered, he began to spout questions. "How'd you guys know I was in Konoha? Why'd you rescue me? Is the Sheriff going to be mad now? How's Hinata? Who's this girl? Is she your girlfriend?"

Neji snorted and the girl burst out laughing. She bent over, laughing to herself as Neji turned his attention away from his horse to Naruto. "This is Tatagoto Kaida: Hinata's personal maid," He said it in a way that made Kaida stop laughing and turn to glare at him.

"Well at least I'm her friend, too, which is more than you half the time!"

He didn't return her glare, but raised an eyebrow at her outburst. In an even more neutral tone, he went back to answering Naruto's questions, "We knew you were in Konoha from the announcement of your impending execution. My father tried to hide it, but I just looked at it when he was gone. We rescued you because you don't deserve to die, and the Sheriff deserves to be undermined as much as possible. Yes, he will be mad about being undermined. Hinata is fine and, as Kaida so rudely pointed out, they are good friends. Hanabi is also fine."

Kaida snorted, and Naruto was surprised to see that she did it in a very similar manner to Neji. "How long have you guys known each other?" He wondered aloud.

Neji frowned, "Since my father decided Hinata needed a female influence other than our governess shortly after we moved back to our own land. About seven years ago."

"Yeah," Kaida looked over at Neji with raised eyebrows. "Pretty much a long time."

With that, Neji and Kaida seemed to decide to snub each other with silence, and Naruto was left staring at grown-up-Neji and the wild forest in amazement.

----

Hello, all!

As my first official day of summer starts winding down, I'm unveiling a project that's been brewing in my brain for a while. I enjoyed writing the beginning... Sarcastic, uncaring characters are really fun. Also, Neji is Hinata and Hanabi's older brother in this to cut down on drama. And Hiashi (who is Earl of Hizashi because I'm lazy and idea-deprived) will be somewhat nicer than normal, because he's not all that important.

Also, this fic gives me a chance to use Kaida more (accept it), and pit her against Neji. She'll be quite entertained when Tenten shows up... XD

Other notes: Hate to use 'hiatus' for anything, but 'Gypsy' is kind of foggy to me, as far as where I am… I remember where I was ultimately going, but not where I was or where I was going in the near future. So I'll turn to that once I get a good pattern going to this one and my other brewing idea. Which leads me to note #2: watch for another chapter fic that I'll be unveiling soon: 'Hinata's List.' It's quite different from this fic, and will be more NaruHina, whereas this one is more group-focused.

Anyway, hope you liked the first chappy of this fic. It'll turn out to be NaruHina, NejiTen, and probably GaaraOC, SasuSaku and some others on the side, by the way. Just so that you can't say I didn't warn you.

Whatever you thought though, remember that and don't own anything, and that you NEED to REVIEW!!


	2. An Idea

Taking to the Woods

Chapter 2: An Idea

----

Hinata stared at her needlework glumly. Everyone was gone, and she was stuck decorating her latest pillow cover. Father was off in town, attending to business he would not explain, despite his children's prodding. Neji had promised to find out, but then suddenly clammed up as well until this morning, when he had vanished without a word. Kaida was also missing, but she had at least given Hinata some hint as to her purpose.

After waking the middle Hyuuga up earlier than usual, Kaida had quickly helped her dress and then sat her down at her writing desk. With a continuing briskness that was unusual for the maid, Kaida had handed Hinata several letters, telling her to reply to them while she was gone. "I'll be back by lunch, if all goes well, hopefully with good news and a surprise for you. If you or Hanabi need anything, ask Mikao down in the kitchens."

Hinata had nodded sleepily, and stared out the window instead of replying to the princess of Suna, who was enough of an acquaintance to write, but not close enough to write anything interesting.

So, because her window faced the stables and forest trails, Hinata saw two figures dressed as grooms ride into the forest. She also saw the two horses return, but their riders were different. Instead of two grooms, there were three people atop the horses: two were dressed all in black, while the other wore threadbare clothing and half-destroyed boots.

But it wasn't the clothing that caught her eye. First, she saw that the riders in black, whom she assumed were the grooms from before, had heads she recognized that had been hidden by hats. It was Neji and Kaida, who were rarely together completely by choice. The third head astounded her the most; it was blond and bright and she recognized it.

Down in the stable yard, Naruto had just dismounted, with the help of the surprisingly strong Kaida, and the stable boys were leading the horses away when they heard it.

"_Naruto?!_" A shadowy figure in one of the second-story windows jumped up as they turned to look, vanishing from sight a few seconds later.

Kaida grinned and Neji pulled on the strap of one of the saddle bags slung over his arm.

The house door closest to them flew open, and a girl came running out towards them. Naruto, who had heard the voice and recognized it, but not recognized the changes, was subconsciously expecting a six-year-old girl. Even seeing Neji, who was certainly no longer a child, Naruto hadn't imagined what Hinata could have transformed into.

His first thought as she came running towards him was that she was beautiful. His second one was that she was_ Hinata_. The rightness of this thought wiped away the awkwardness of his first observation and the ten years that stretched between them. She slowed as she reached him, unsure of the appropriate action, and he grabbed her into a hug.

"I missed you," he muttered into her head, batting away the information his nose brought him about how she smelled like lilacs.

She nodded into him and didn't say anything.

Their moment ended when Neji placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and nodded his head in the direction of the house. He seemed to enjoy looming over everyone present—Naruto hadn't realized how tall he was while they were on the horses—and remained silent.

Hinata seemed to understand his intent though, and as they moved indoors Neji vocalized the necessity of their relocation. "Our servants are loyal, and won't breathe a word of you to Orochimaru, but you can't stay here." At Hinata's confused look, Neji added, "We had to save Naruto from the gallows today. He's made a fast enemy of the sheriff, but that might be a good thing."

Hinata gasped and Kaida gaped. "How is making that creep angry a _good_ thing?" exclaimed the brunette. "You're out of your mind."

"Is that where Father was?" Hinata asked more quietly as they entered the house. Neji led them to the smaller sitting room, and they all sat down. Kaida stood up again and bolted the door after a few seconds of silence.

Neji nodded in response to Hinata's earlier question, "Yes. And Father can't know that it was us who rescued you, Naruto, so we need to think of what to do with you quickly."

Kaida brightened almost immediately. "He can stay in the loft of the old barn until we can think of something permanent."

Naruto wondered how old the old barn was, but Neji nodded.

Then they were silent, each trying to think of where the blond fugitive could go or what he could do.

"Can't you just disguise me and let me stay around here?" Naruto leaned back in his seat, seeming satisfied with this plan.

Hinata preemptively hit Kaida on the arm, looking at Neji to make sure he, at least, wasn't planning on choking on his own spit at this suggestion. Reassured of his silence, Hinata turned back to Naruto. "We have to hide you completely. The-the sheriff will not be happy with you." She seemed unsure of how to make her, and was gladly interrupted by the ever-blunt Neji.

"The only person to escape Orochimaru's noose was hunted down like an animal and killed on the spot."

Naruto gulped and Kaida sat bolt upright, having been inspired by something Neji had said. "But people who've been sentenced to less than death have escaped!" She exclaimed. At the blank looks she received from the other three, she continued, "Remember the baker that was supposed to be arrested for tax evasion? He hid out in the forest for almost three months! Orochimaru had given up on him when they caught him sneaking back into his house!"

More blank stares. Kaida pressed forward urgently, "It's simple, alright: he just has to hide out in the woods, where even the bounty hunters and dogs can't follow him. And then we go out everyone in a while and make sure he's still ali—" The brunette was cut off by Neji's hand clamping onto her mouth as he stood, staring out the window with a vacant expression.

Apparently recognizing Neji's actions as some kind of sign, Hinata stood up as well, grabbing Naruto's arm and pulling him out the back door of the house without a word. They ran to a building on the edge of the forest that seemed well-kept but was beginning to look unused. Hinata pulled open the huge door a few feet.

"Climb up to the loft and stay quiet; Kaida and I will bring you food later."

She closed the door softly and Naruto was left in darkness.

----

Hiashi looked between his children. Hanabi seemed normal, kicking her feet every so often, energetic but neat and clean. It was Neji and Hinata that worried him—he hadn't had to tell them about Naruto, since the boy was a criminal and not dead, but they both seemed quiet.

The Earl mentally shook himself. They were both quiet anyway…

His thoughts interrupted by the arrival of dinner, Hiashi assured himself that all was well. If he had remained vigilant, he would have seen Hinata slip several pieces of bread and a few pieces of meat into a waiting napkin in her lap. She wrapped it up and slipped it into her sleeve just before the meal ended.

But Hiashi didn't see Hinata's actions, or the even more surprising moment when Neji pulled an apple off the table and placed it calmly in his pocket.

----

Servants never take as long to eat as their masters, and Kaida had few duties in between preparing Hinata for dinner and preparing her for bed. So the young maid considered it her new immediate duty to go and reassure Naruto that he wasn't forgotten.

They sat comfortably in the hay, sharing the piece of sweet bread that served as Kaida's dessert. They avoided the inevitable awkward moment easily, due to Kaida's natural reluctance for awkwardness and Naruto's incessant chattering.

Finally, he asked her how she and Neji had ended up riding out to save him.

Kaida blinked. "Oh, well Neji was trying to sneak to the stables with his bow and big bag of black clothes. I saw him from Hinata's window and wanted to sneak up on him, but he saw me coming. And not even just when I was coming out the door—he had my daggers and some black clothes vaguely my size and just saw me and told me to hurry up. Because, of course, he knows everything."

She glared at him as he stifled a laugh. "Shut up—he might actually know everything, and someday he'll get you with that awesome knowledge, too!"

The barn door creaked open below them, revealing both Neji and Hinata. They had both changed out of their dinner clothes and didn't seem to mind climbing up ladders or sitting in half-dirty straw.

Exclaiming at the feast the set before him, Naruto almost missed the blunt opening statement Neji made.

"Naruto, I know a place in the woods where you can stay. You might even be able to throw a few rocks at the Sheriff as he rides by on the main road, but I wouldn't advise it."

The blond, his mouth full of Neji's apple, had to resort to staring at the other boy with his jaw falling open. When he had swallowed, which took a moment due to the sheer amount of food in his mouth, he gasped out a single word, "_What?!"_

Neji raised his eyebrow in what Naruto suspected was his signature expression. Exasperated, Neji restated his plan. "You will stay in the forest. I will lay a false trail for the Sheriff and see that he follows it, and Kaida will show you how to find your own food."

"Hey, don't volunteer me!" Kaida rounded on Neji, diverting attention from the still-shocked Naruto. Neji, in turn, moved his raised-eyebrow expression to the brunette girl.

"You don't want to help?"

"Of course I want to _help_," Kaida said, annoyed at his accusation. "I just don't want you volunteer me! There's a difference, and you're acting all leader-y, when no one made you leader!"

Hinata sighed, "Kaida, he's the closest thing to a leader we've got. Neither of us wants to do it…" She swallowed briefly and backed herself up, "Besides, Neji knows what he's talking about. That's important, even if you don't exactly like his leadership."

Kaida sighed, too, and seemed to deflate slightly. "Sorry, Hina—and I guess sorry to you, too, Neji. Just put your eyebrow down and I'll sow Naruto how to find edible stuff."

Naruto only half heard the exchange, as an idea was forming in the back of his mind that he couldn't quite place. He tried to focus, to grab a hold of the idea, but it slipped away from him. As Neji continued outlining how he'd draw Orochimaru away from Naruto, the blond tried again to focus.

_Something to do with what Neji said… In the forest, by the main road… But what does that have to do with an idea?_

----

Sort of an odd cliffhanger, I know…

Hmm. Meant to do this in the first chapter: my inspirations for this fic are the _King Raven_ trilogy by Stephen Lawhead, _Outlaws of Sherwood_ by Robin McKinley (you'll see that in Neji if nothing else), the BBC series _Robin Hood_ (only the first season. The second vaguely disappoints me and the third annoys me greatly), and whatever's on TV/in the book I'm reading at the time.

I don't own any of that stuff, or _Naruto_, btw. I'm _POOR_.

Thanks for reading, please review! One-liners are… good… but I'll reply to longer ones! (If you sent me a longer one and I didn't reply I'm sorry. I kind of miss things during the first chappie…)


	3. A Comrade

Taking to the Woods

Chapter 3: A Comrade

----

"So, you got it?"

Naruto nodded. He'd been travelling for long enough that he knew how to forage, all he'd needed was a lesson on which plants were safe to eat. Luckily, Kaida had been able to show him while Neji placed traps around Naruto's cave.

To his disappointment, Hinata was keeping her father company.

Pulling his mind out of who wasn't there, the blond focused on telling the difference between the plants Kaida had put in front of him. Noticing the girl's exasperated look, Naruto beamed.

"Don't worry," he assured her. "I can definitely tell the difference between all these plants and stuff!"

Looking him over, Kaida nodded. "Alright, I'll be back later then. I'll bring some bread, too, and maybe meat."

She left and Neji came over, settling himself in front of Naruto with subconscious grace. "You'll have to knock out anyone caught in these traps before they see you, otherwise they'll put the pieces together and turn you in. Then cut them lose and move them to another cave that looks the same as this one so that they'll think that's what's being protected."

He fell silent after this unusually long speech and Naruto settled for nodding again. Neji seemed to be about to leave when he turned and gave Naruto a searching look.

"Don't get caught in the traps yourself. I showed you how to spot them, so I shouldn't hear from my sister about how her maid found you dangling from a tree."

Naruto crossed his arms, "I'm not an idiot, Neji."

"Of course you aren't."

----

Hinata sighed, and a hand appeared on her shoulder. She looked up and smiled at her father, who seemed worried about her sighing.

Hiashi wondered if she could have heard about Naruto. He had never been so grateful for moving his family away from the city—everyone in Konoha knew about Naruto's escape from the gallows, and nothing could have kept the news out of his home. But was it possible that she'd heard the rumors anyway?

Hiashi brushed the idea aside. The rumors were foolish anyway. The idea that Naruto was plotting with dark spirits to overthrow the Sheriff was preposterous, if only because the things that had rescued Naruto were solid and not evil spirits.

"Father," Hinata said, breaking the silence. "Is something bothering you?"

"No," he replied simply, and didn't explain himself. Hinata sighed again as things dissolved into silence. Even with Neji and Hanabi, their house was so quiet. She was aware of it because she remembered how it had been when Naruto was here, and because Kaida had done something to lighten the mood, but Hinata couldn't do anything herself. She couldn't talk pointlessly or inspire others to start a conversation.

So things were always quiet.

----

Left alone, Naruto quickly became bored. Aside from looking for food—and he wasn't hungry—he had nothing to do. So he proceeded to explore the area around his cave, carefully avoiding Neji's traps.

"I'll show him who's the idiot…" Naruto muttered to himself as he stepped over another trap. "And it's not me!" He was just feeling proud of himself when a crash in the bushes and a scream caused him to turn back, and the next thing he knew he was being pulled up, and hanging upside down by his ankle.

Even upside down, Naruto spotted the source of the noise that had sent him into the trap. A girl was pulling herself out of the underbrush, staring at him in amazement. Her short hair drew his attention quickly, as it was impossibly pink.

But even as he gaped at her, her expression turned from surprise to anger. "Who are you?" she demanded, walking quickly up to him.

"What?!" Naruto paused in his struggles to get out of the trap and looked down at the girl. He felt the blood rushing to his head as he tried to understand why she was angry at him. But despite that, he didn't reveal his name. Being outlawed had given him some idea of secrecy.

The girl's eyebrows pulled together as she contemplated the boy hanging from the tree. It was then that soft footfalls interrupted their silence, and a blonde girl appeared. She looked curiously at the pink girl, "Are you alright? I heard you scr—AHHH!"

She had spotted Naruto, who had decided to just be patient until someone got him down, and grabbed the other girl's arm.

"Sakura!" the blonde girl screamed. "Who is this guy? Why is he here? Why is he in a _tree?!"_

Growing impatient with being patient, Naruto burst out, "I'll tell you who I am if you get me down and tell me why you're so freaked out!"

The blonde girl glared at him, but the pink girl, Sakura, moved forward and pulled out a knife. As she cut through the rope, she let the blonde talk.

"I'm Ino, she's Sakura," the blonde started. "We live with a healer in the woods, as her apprentices. We've never seen anyone around here before…" She trailed off, as if hoping that was all the explanation that was needed.

Luckily, it was. And, ever a man of his word, Naruto grinned at them as the rope was cut and he crashed to the ground.

"Sorry," Sakura muttered.

"No problem…" Naruto rubbed his head. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I'm living in a cave back there."

They didn't ask him why, and there was a brief, painfully awkward silence. Sakura blurted out, "Does your head still hurt?"

Naruto shrugged and Sakura faltered.

"Oh…" She seemed to grasp around for an idea of how to leave the situation gracefully. Ino said nothing, looking back the way she had come with a distracted expression. Sakura finally found something to say, "We live that way," she pointed to her right, "Not very far. It's hidden, but if you push through the brambles you'll find our cottage. If you ever need healing or food or… anything…" She finished lamely, then bobbed her head quickly in farewell and left, pulling Ino behind her.

Naruto rubbed his head gingerly as the two colorful girls disappeared into the underbrush. He decided to ask Hinata if she'd ever heard of a healer in the woods, and went back to his cave.

If he had known better, he might not have taken a nap so soon after a head injury, but he had always healed quickly, so he settled down in the shade and fell asleep.

----

"Wake up!" An oddly high-pitched voice pierced through Naruto's hazy dreams.

Pulling himself towards consciousness, Naruto found himself staring –with difficulty, as it was dark and he hadn't built a fire—at a dark-haired young boy who seemed to be shakily holding a knife towards Naruto's stomach. Groggily, the blond asked, "Wha? Who're you?"

Not expecting such a mundane question, the boy faltered. His innate honesty shown through, because he answered reluctantly. "Konohamaru… Who're you?!" His tone turned accusing and the hand holding the knife steadied.

"I'm Naruto," Naruto said grumpily. "What d'you want, kid?"

Again, Konohamaru faltered. Then, he turned defiant, "I'm running away from my grandpa!" He declared.

"Oh. Well, go to sleep for now." Naruto laid his head back down, hoping the kid's grandfather wasn't important or crazy.

----

Naruto woke up to Konohamaru cursing. He voiced his first thought, which was, "Where did you learn to talk like that?"

"I hit my head on your stupid cave!" Was the kid's reply. "Why do you live here, anyway? My grandpa said no one lived on this side of the forest!"

"Well I do," Naruto grumbled. "Who's your grandpa, anyway?"

"…Sarutobi Hiruzen."

"What?!" Naruto jumped up, banging his head in the same manner as Konohamaru had moments before. When the world stopped spinning, he was able to continue his train of thought. "The old _Sheriff_? _He's_ your grandpa?! Are you crazy kid, an entire army's going to be hunting for you!"

Konohamaru flinched, but then shouted back at Naruto, "I don't care! Nobody was interested in _me_ there, and I couldn't stand it! I'm going to prove to my grandpa that I can take care of myself, and then do something amazing so _he'll _be proud of _me_!"

Finished, Konohamaru sat down heavily on the ground. Naruto sat down next to him, and they stared at the other wall together in silence. Finally, Naruto told the younger boy about his rescue from being hanged, and how he was now an outlaw.

To his surprise, the kid defended him. "You didn't do anything! Why should you be hung and then outlawed, just because you annoyed the Sheriff and then got abducted by some weirdos?"

"Actually, I found out that those guys were my old friend and _his_ old friend. But thanks," Naruto said, amused. It occurred to him that if anyone would be against the new Sheriff, it would be the grandson of the old one.

The kid was quiet in the face of the identities of the masked saviors, but when he spoke again, it was on a different subject. "So… Are you going to take me back home?"

Naruto sighed, "No. You can stay with me, but you have to do _everything_ I say."

"Yes sir!"

The immediate response made Naruto grin. He could get used to this, if the kid was going to keep it up. He stood up carefully, watching for the roof this time, and looked down at Konohamaru. "First, I'll show you the traps."

"Whatever you want, boss-man!"

----

Naruto and Konohamaru got along well. With Konohamaru's retreat into mindless obedience if Naruto got crabby, the two of them were able to coexist peacefully. Their first challenge came two days after Konohamaru joined Naruto, when Naruto sent the kid to try and set an animal trap.

A few minutes after he left, there was a loud crash and Neji, who normally tried his hardest to walk silently through the forest, appeared out of the trees, dragging a flailing Konohamaru behind him.

"Naruto," Neji said in his best bland tone. "This boy was messing with one of the traps."

"I wasn't messing with it—I was trying to figure out how it worked!" Konohamaru defended loudly. "C'mon, boss; tell him who I am!"

Neji continued as if there hadn't been an interruption. "Also, I recognize him. He's the grandson of the old Sheriff, Sarutobi, so the new Sheriff is almost required to hunt for him. We need to get him home before he uncovers your secret and tells Orochimaru."

"He's knows who I am already, stupid! And I know who he is—he's the guy who's going to get rid of the stupid Sheriff! Who are _you_?"

Naruto put his hand over Konohamaru's mouth, "He's Neji—the guy who rescued me." He felt the kid's mouth form an '_O'_ under his hand, and felt it safe to take it off. To Neji, he said, "I know who he is, but I said he could stay."

"Well, break your promise." Neji was blunt, and didn't look at Konohamaru, who made a noise of fury. Naruto shook his head quickly.

"Nope," he said plainly. "Konohamaru stays. He's been helping me and I like him." He crossed his arms for emphasis. Neji looked between the two of them and sighed. He threw a small bag of food down by Naruto.

"I'll bring more next time. But this is the only stray you can take in." he said, and Naruto grinned in victory.

----

Kaida giggled. "He's like a mini-you!" she told Naruto, who was trying to make a weapon out of a stick. Konohamaru had gone to check his traps for food, hoping to impress Naruto's other friend, who he liked more than Neji.

Naruto didn't respond to her comment, and Konohamaru burst into the clearing around the caves. "I got a rabbit!"

"You both need to learn to be quieter…"Kaida sighed. There are other people in this forest."

Konohamaru snorted, "We know that."

But Kaida just shook her head. She didn't agree with Neji's idea of the two kids' intelligence, but she didn't believe that they realized the danger they were in.

----

Not one of my better chapters, in my opinion, but I introduced people. Yay!

More action next chapter, hopefully after ALL you REVIEW!

Remember: I have replies and cookies. =D.


	4. An Argument

Taking to the Woods

Chapter 4: An Argument

----

Hinata watched silently as Neji paced back and forth. Kaida was attempting to patch her black pants, but was distracted by the noises Neji's angry pacing made in the silence. It was two weeks into Naruto's stay in the forest, and the stress was beginning to show on the inhabitants of Hyuuga Manor.

The brunette put her sewing down in her lap with a snort of exasperation. "Can you just vent, or something, and get it over with?"

The silence continued as Kaida picked up her pants again, jabbing the needle angrily but carefully. She did not want to have to redo this.

Finally, Neji spoke. "Konohamaru is going to get us into trouble. As it is, his grandfather in containing the search to try and teach the boy a lesson, but sooner or later he'll become desperate. And meanwhile, Orochimaru is easing off on finding Naruto… But he's plotting something."

"And your father is becoming suspicious of all of us. You especially, Neji, but I think the chef might have told him that I've been sneaking through their kitchens," Kaida added.

Neji nodded sharply, "Yes. Hinata is the safest, but she has been covering for us."

"Maybe…" Kaida hesitated. "Maybe one of us should go and stay with Naruto. Then we'd have better control over what's going on, and the others won't have to sneak out as much." At Neji's dismissing look, she became indignant. "What? It's an idea at least!"

With a sigh, Hinata stood up. "We can't split up until we have to." She went over to Neji and put her hand on his arm. "They don't need us to fawn over them."

"Yeah," Kaida grinned. "Maybe they're finally growing brains."

"Or maybe not."

They were all smiling—or smirking—now, as Hinata reprimanded Neji. "Be nice, brother."

----

Naruto had been trying to find one of Konohamaru's animal traps when he'd heard them. Their bright clothes almost hurt his eyes as he followed the sound of loud laughter. He realized sadly how used he'd become to green and brown. His orange clothes had been taken from him when he was in jail, and Neji had supplied him with much drearier and practical substitutes.

Konohamaru, who wasn't far behind him, managed to come up silently and crouch behind Naruto. "Look at all that fancy stuff," he breathed. "Even one of their horses would buy a couple weeks worth of food!"

Naruto thought the kid might be overestimating, but an idea, the same one that had been hiding in the back of his mind for weeks, suddenly burst forward, accompanied by a few other ideas that Neji had given him.

"That's it! We can buy our own food, and pay Neji and Hinata back! Quick, remember the first traps we set?"

Konohamaru nodded vigorously, and Naruto outlined his plan.

----

Inuzuka Kiba, the single guard assigned to the noble party, wanted to knock himself out. The four courtiers, returning home after a week-long visit to Orochimaru's castle in Konoha, were doing the superior act again.

Not only did they ignore him, but they were loudly insulting both Konoha and its Sheriff. Kiba didn't mind that they were bad-mouthing Orochimaru, except that he would be asked to rely what they were saying, and the Sheriff was prone to shooting the messengers. Lying would have even worse consequences, and Orochimaru could _smell_ lies.

So, tired of listening to the nobles come up with synonyms of 'vile' to describe Konoha, Kiba was almost glad when the blond guy emerged from the trees, aiming a bow directly at his head.

Kiba drew his sword, knowing it was no good against a bow. He didn't know enough, however, to see that his assailant was an average shot, at best. All Kiba knew about bows was that they could kill you long before you got within sword range. So he was wary of doing anything to annoy the bowman.

"Take out all your money and fine jewelry! Any hesitations or talking back, and my… gang will shoot you dead!"

The boy's nervous tone and hesitation before mentioning his 'gang' made Kiba think he might be bluffing. And then several trees and bushes rustled—on both sides of the road. Kiba actually saw an arrowhead emerge from one of the rustling bushes.

He sheathed his sword. "I've nothing of value."

The blond boy shrugged, "I didn't really mean you. The rest of you, though," He swung his bow to them. "All your coins and jewels, now!"

Soon there was a pile of purses and jewelry, and the bandit shoved them all into a bigger bag. He then looked at the nobles and their guard and hesitated again. Finally, he went back up to the trees and, just before vanishing into them, said, "I guess you can go now."

Kiba sighed. Somehow this would end up being all his fault.

----

The small cave was filled with gleeful laughter.

"We did it! We did it, we did it, we did it!" Konohamaru rejoiced. He was extremely proud of the part he'd played, and refusing to tell Naruto how he'd made trees on both sides of the road.

Naruto's huge smile matched Konohamaru's as he opened all of the purses and poured their contents and the jewelry onto the ground in between them.

It had been absurdly easy, and the stolen goods shone in the sunlight streaking into the cave. Naruto found himself staring at it, not believing that just hours ago it had been on its way to wherever those nobles had been going. Now it was staying in Konoha.

While he was wondering about the ways of the universe, Konohamaru was laying down plans. "We'll need more preparation time, but next time we could get an entire caravan! Especially if you could get Neji to do all the talking—he's scary. And then you and Kaida would let yourselves get seen while I make the bushes move, and we'd have them peeing their pants! Did you _see_ that one guy?!"

The older boy nodded absently, remembering the particularly scared rider.

Konohamaru continued, "But, no matter what, they're going to have a big surprise when they get back and we have all this! The only stupid part is we can't go to the market ourselves…"

As the kid lamented his confinement to the forest, Naruto shoved the booty back into the large bag, pulling himself out of his thoughtful mood.

----

Kaida's reaction was everything Konohamaru had hoped. Hinata, who the kid had just met, seemed oddly calm in comparison with her maid, who was gaping.

Neji was furious, which brought the young Sarutobi a guilty sense of satisfaction.

But the eldest Hyuuga rounded on Naruto. "_What _were you _thinking_? Are you trying to get yourselves killed?"

Hinata looked down, and Kaida's blooming grin disappeared. Konohamaru became completely still, understanding that Neji might be the one person in the world who could talk Naruto out of doing something. He was soon proven wrong when Naruto yelled back.

"I was _thinking_ we'd pay for our own food for once!"

"Well, why don't you _stop_ thinking? You're clearly not smart enough to think through!"

Naruto was about to shout something equally insulting, his hand unknowingly reaching for the long knife he carried at his side like a sword, when Hinata stepped inside the space that had grown between him and Neji as they prepared to fight.

"Stop it!"Hinata said, putting all of the words someone else would have needed into just those two words. Both boys relaxed slightly, and Kaida inched protectively to stand behind Hinata.

There was perfect silence for several long seconds, broken when Neji stepped completely out of his fighting stance and turned sharply on his heel. "Come on," he said sharply to the girls. Hinata sent a quick sad look over her shoulder as she followed close behind him, and Kaida grabbed the bag of things Naruto had stolen. The brunette nodded once at both boys, managing a taut smile as she, too, followed after Neji.

Konohamaru looked at his 'boss', his eyes wide. Naruto turned and stalked off into the forest, heading the opposite direction from where Neji had gone. He wished he'd kept the money; he wanted an excuse to go to Konoha and blow off some steam avoiding the guards. But now Kaida would buy things for them and he was still stuck in the forest.

He'd been walking for nearly fifteen minutes when he took interest in where he was going. He had almost reached the Main Road, so he turned and slowly headed back to camp. He didn't want to see the road where he'd held up the nobles, and he didn't have anywhere else to go except the cave.

----

Kaida had vanished somewhere as soon as they'd reached the manor, so Neji was using the opportunity to talk to Hinata. After his anger and pacing at Naruto's rashness was over, he sat down next to his sister on her bed.

"He can't just hide somewhere, can he?"

"No," Hinata almost laughed. "And we shouldn't have expected him to."

Neji nodded his agreement and they fell silent. Finally, he spoke again, and his mind seemed to have moved to a different topic.

"I keep making you come between me and someone. I'm sorry," he said, and Hinata grinned ruefully. He was apologizing not only for his behavior but for his breaking with the normal way he carried himself. Only Neji, who apologized rarely, would do it for being unpredictable.

She put her arm on his shoulder, repressing a grin as he shifted uncomfortably. They didn't speak any more, each trying to think of a better plan—taking Naruto into account—than the last.

----

Kaida put the coins she'd gotten from selling a couple of the necklaces into the purse with the rest of the coins. There were more jewels than she could sell at once without raising suspicion, so she was selling and bartering them in small groups, all to different people. She'd gotten about halfway through the pile and decided to start shopping. She could sell more another day.

As she chose between apples, cheerfully telling the merchant that he was crazy and should lower his prices immediately and ignoring his suggestion that she must be joking, there was a conversation at the next stall that caught her interest.

Now pointedly ignoring the merchant, Kaida heard:

"—Robbed the count with fifty armed men!"

"Well, they weren't well guarded. Sheriff must have been hoping something would happen to them. I heard he's disappointed they weren't injured!"

The brunette girl, trying to remain casual, nearly froze. How had they spread word of the robbery so _fast?_ She took a deep breath and kept listening, relieved when the apple-seller ignored her back.

"But it is strange he's not furious," said the first voice. "After all, it was that young boy that he let escape and hasn't captured."

"No! The one who swore he'd defeat him?"

"Exactly," the first voice said, and Kaida now had to hold back a giggle. Gossip travelled fast in Konoha, and the faster gossip travels the more disjointed it becomes. The gossipers began to speculate how the boy would bring Orochimaru down, and Kaida continued shopping.

When she'd finished, she almost sprinted back to her horse, and was still beaming with a long-repressed grin when she reached Naruto's cave.

Naruto himself had been sitting silently by the cave for a while, and Kaida's sudden arrival jolted both him and Konohamaru out of a long silence.

Dropping the things she'd bought in front of him, Kaida beamed down at Naruto. "You're famous," she told him gleefully. "And _good_ famous, too! They think you're going to storm Konoha with your hundreds of archers and throw the Sheriff out like trash."

"I knew it!" Konohamaru was triumphant at the thought of Naruto storming the castle, but Naruto seemed bitter.

"I'm not _allowed_ to do anything of the sort," the blond said angrily.

The brunette in front of him waved his comment of with a swipe of her hand. "Ignore Neji, he doesn't like not knowing everything. The point is you're famous. I got some little cakes for you two to celebrate. I've gotta go—they're not going to believe this!"

And she was gone. Naruto wasn't quite sure how being gossiped about turned into a victory moment, but he took his cake when Konohamaru handed it to him. As he ate the pastry, a piece of the exhilaration he'd felt earlier returned. He stood up, shoving the rest of his cake into his mouth.

The kid, who was licking the remaining frosting off his lips with a look of pure delight, looked up at him.

"Come on," Naruto said. "We're going to go practice our shooting."

Konohamaru leaped up, "Yes sir!"

----

Another sort of bridge chapter. Next chappie will bring back Sakura and Ino and bring in someone new. *Yay?*

Please review! I have some slightly stale cookies… OO! Wait! I have ice cream bars. Yay! Review for ice cream bars!!

I apologize for the late update, I've been trying really hard to update reguarly for this story. I actually had this chapter done early, but decided not to post it... Big mistake. Our Internet crashed. Sorry again, but I'm back now! Hope you like it!


	5. A Prince

Taking to the Woods

Chapter 5: A Prince

----

Naruto put his head down on the ground, avoiding a nearby plant and not caring about the dirt. He and Konohamaru had been waiting for someone rich-looking to pass by for at least an hour. The kid was dealing with impatience by fiddling with his network of strings that would rattle bushes and sneaking glances at Naruto when he thought the blond wasn't looking.

But Naruto himself was running out of patience. He'd even grown bored of trying to think of a really cool hero name, which had proven difficult and kept him busy up until that point. They were positioned over the road on a ridge, allowing them to see more of the road than the road could see of them. But, so far, the road had been almost empty.

And then it came.

It was all black, and unguarded, and would have gone by without being harassed, except that the door bore the royal crest.

Naruto hesitated only a moment. He thought that maybe he shouldn't mess with the royal family, but then shoved all doubt aside and signaled to Konohamaru.

Several pieces of foliage rustled, and the lone driver looked around nervously. Naruto stood up and knew that the movement drew the driver's eye, as well as making it seem as if he'd appeared from nowhere.

"Stop!"

The driver did as Naruto commanded, and the young bandit lowered his arrow, motioning Konohamaru to step out of the leaves and keep the driver in line. The transition was smooth, and Naruto went quickly down to the carriage. He rapped on the door. "Get out quietly and you won't get hurt!"

He stepped back to point an arrow at the door, and was relieved when it opened almost immediately. His relief vanished when it was a girl, dressed in plain boy's clothes but not trying to hide her gender, and she poked her head out briefly before disappearing back into the depths of the carriage. He heard her say something that sounded like "time to go" and she re-appeared, this time coming out of the carriage completely.

She was tall, and maybe a year older than Naruto. Her dark brown hair was pulled back into two buns on top of her head, and her belt held at least four sheathed knives. She moved with an easy grace the blond recognized as someone who was dangerous and knew it. Naruto wondered what he was dealing with, when the second person emerged from the carriage.

This one was really a boy, about Naruto's age and, despite very similar clothes to the girl's, he had an air of nobility about him. He had a sword strapped to his back, and his black eyes scorched the two bandits from behind his long, black bangs.

Neither of them seemed to have anything of value, other than their weapons, and Naruto groaned to himself. Before he could ask them for all of their valuables, assuming they had some, the girl had knocked the driver smartly on the head, guiding his unconscious fall backward so that he stayed in his seat.

She jumped back off the carriage, climbing up to where Konohamaru was standing. The boy jumped back, trying to keep his bow on her and out of her range at the same time. "What are you doing?" he yelled, almost accusingly.

The girl hesitated for the first time. She looked down at the black-haired boy, who was looking around as if bored and used to better. Naruto glared at him, but turned to face the girl after she said, "Sasuke, are you sure these are the guys you hired?"

Before the boy, Sasuke, could respond, Naruto lowered his bow, putting the arrow back in his quiver and moving to the base on the ridge, below Konohamaru. As he started to climb, he turned back and said, "We weren't hired by anybody. And you guys smell like trouble, so we'll just be on our way and good luck!"

He had reached the top, and he grabbed Konohamaru's arm. They were almost to the safety of the trees when the girl stopped them again.

"Wait! You have to take us with you—it's really important we get somewhere they can't find us!"

Naruto turned back, curious despite himself. "Who's 'they'?"

Sensing that she had an advantage, the girl grinned. "Take us with you and let us stay there and we'll tell you everything."

If Neji had been there, he would have told Naruto not to take people in before he knew who they were. Even Kaida or Hinata would have pressed to know the details of why these two strangers were running from something. But Naruto trusted easily.

"Fine," he said, and Sasuke smirked, catching up to the others as Naruto led them into the forest.

----

As they walked, Naruto noticed that despite her easy manner, the girl walked with a slight limp. Still, he was more than willing to slow his pace a little for her, because she proved to be much better company than her companion.

Her name was Tenten, and all would say was that she had more weapons on her than just the knives on her belt. She knew several jokes, although not as many as Naruto. He decided she was probably from some kind of noble, like Konohamaru, because they were the first people he'd met that didn't know most of his jokes.

Sasuke remained silent and stoic throughout the walk.

They had almost reached the cave when Naruto, who wasn't paying attention, ran into a frozen Konohamaru. When the blond looked down at the kid, Konohamaru pointed shakily ahead of them. "We're in trouble," he whispered.

And Naruto saw why. Neji was sitting, arms folded across his chest, in front of their cave, looking slightly angry. Kaida was sitting next to him, not nearly as still, fidgeting and playing with a bag that probably held the rest of the groceries bought with their stolen goods.

Taking a deep breath and almost forgetting about Tenten and Sasuke, Naruto stepped out of the trees, pulling Konohamaru with him. "Hey, Neji," he said, his voice only slightly higher than usual. "…What're you doing?"

"I think the real question is what are_ you_ doing?" Neji's tone was cold and flat.

Still fidgeting, Kaida interrupted as if unable to help herself. "Does it really matter what everyone's doing? I think the real question is why are we all so te—AAHHH! PEOPLE!" She had spotted Tenten and Sasuke and was now pointing at them, as if they were invisible to everyone else.

Tenten giggled, "Yeah, weird, right? Who're you?"

The two brunette girls stared at each other, and Kaida flustered indignantly. She was saved from responding as Sasuke recognized Neji. "Hyuuga." He said flatly, his tone revealing little more than his silence.

"Uchiha," Neji fired back, and Naruto caught a flash of defiance in his eyes.

Kaida gasped, "_Uchiha_? Like Uchiha Sasuke, the _prince_?!"

Naruto gulped. He should have heard that story of theirs before bringing them back. He was trouble, Konohamaru was trouble and getting the Hyuugas involved was trouble; but a _prince?_ They were in over their head.

Konohamaru, ever oblivious to tension, seemed to grasp something. "That's why the royal crest was on their carriage!"

Neji and Naruto both froze. The blond avoided his friend's gaze and Kaida groaned.

"You attacked a _royal_ carriage? I give up: Neji's right about everything, including your intelligence!" She tossed her bag to Konohamaru and stormed out of the clearing, muttering about going back to Hinata, who was at least partly sane.

Neji smirked. "Well, she finally accepts it…"

Naruto smiled tentatively, thinking maybe Neji's distraction would last and he wouldn't be chewed out. He was proved wrong when Neji's smirk dropped and he turned back to the blond, his eyebrows pulling down.

And he was in trouble again.

----

Tenten's limp grew worse over the rest of the day. She seemed as determined as Naruto and Konohamaru to avoid Neji's sweeping glares, which meant that all of them were on their feet a lot, trying to casually stay where he couldn't see them.

As a prince, Sasuke seemed to find avoiding glares below him. He met Neji's stare with one of his own, white eyes meeting black for the briefest of seconds. Then Neji would look away, unsure as how to deal with this young royal. On one hand, as an Earl's heir, he was outranked. But Sasuke was sitting silently in some woods, now relying on Naruto (and, by extension, Neji) to feed and hide him.

Had he given up his position?

The Hyuuga resolved to ask Kaida, who was quickly becoming their link to the gossip and happenings in Konoha, to ask about the younger prince.

When Naruto noticed Tenten's limp, he jumped quickly at the chance to escape Neji's angry silence.

"Tenten!" He exclaimed, as if just noticing it. "You're limping! Is something wrong with your leg?"

She looked down at the offending limb in light surprise. "Oh, I must have hurt it on the… on our journey."

Her light hesitation went unnoticed by Naruto, but not Neji. The blond was the one to speak next though, so Tenten was relieved to think no one had heard it.

"Here, I'll take you to some healers. I met this lady's apprentices the other day, and they said she'd help us if we needed it." Naruto moved to support Tenten, but Sasuke stood up sharply, almost appearing next to the brunette.

She laughed awkwardly, trying to relieve the sudden silence. "Can Sasuke come, too? He's uneasy in new places."

Naruto merely shrugged and let Sasuke help the older girl as he led the way in the direction Ino and Sakura had told him to go.

Behind him, Sasuke offered Tenten an awkward arm, and she took it reluctantly. It seemed to Neji, who watched the newcomers carefully and saw everything, that they had done something similar to this before, and were unwilling to do so again but couldn't think of another way to walk together.

Neji sighed and stood up, moving over to them. Tenten started when he touched her arm from behind, but Sasuke remained unmoved.

Ignoring the other boy's rock-like attitude, Neji took Tenten's arm, the one gripping Sasuke's forearm, and pulled it up and over so that she could hold on to Sasuke's opposite shoulder. He pulled the Uchiha's now unoccupied arm and put it around Tenten's shoulder, and bent down to lift Tenten's injured leg off the ground.

Finally, he spoke, "A basic carrying position for a lightly-wounded ally. You become her crutch, but you are both able to walk on your own."

As they started off after Naruto, Neji turned and went started to head towards home, adding the brunette girl called Tenten to the things Kaida would need to find out about.

----

Neither Sakura nor Ino was outside the cottage when Naruto found it. Instead, a black-haired woman probably in her twenties was tending a small, clean pig. She tensed when she saw the three teenagers appear out of the trees, but Naruto beamed at her.

"We've got an injured friend," he said, his tone portraying that they meant no harm. "I met Sakura and Ino a few days ago. They said their mistress was a healer, and if I ever needed help…" He trailed off, unsure how to continue. Luckily, the woman's expression had relaxed when he mention meeting Sakura and Ino.

She went over and took Tenten from Sasuke, gesturing the boys to follow. "The mistress is inside. Only women are allowed in the cottage, though, except in emergencies, so you will wait out here."

Tenten seemed almost grateful, but Sasuke scowled. "I go with her," he said, surprising Naruto by speaking at all. This was probably only the second time he'd heard the young prince's voice.

The woman smiled stubbornly, "I'll send Sakura and Ino out as soon as Tsunade diagnoses the problem. I'm Shizune," she added, as if at random. "Your friend will be fine; we're sworn only to help anyone except those who attack us." The unspoken warning to keep his sword sheathed hung behind her as she helped Tenten briskly into the cottage.

Naruto went to see the little pig, almost as a way to avoid looking at the stoic Sasuke.

They sat in silence for several long minutes, until the door opened again. Sakura and Ino came out of the cottage, and spotted Naruto first. They were about to greet him and tell him about Tenten's leg when they simultaneously spotted Sasuke.

It was as if they were looking at a miracle. Their eyes widened, and Ino's face blossomed into a smile as if by accident. Sakura turned the bright red that girl's turn when faced with a very cute guy. They don't know it's happening, and it would be cute if not followed by the inevitable stuttering.

Naruto scowled to himself as the two girls started to fuss over Sasuke. The blond assumed bitterly that all girls did this, and Kaida would do the same once she got over Sasuke's danger to Naruto… A horrible thought struck him. What if Hinata, too, fell for Sasuke's looks? As he struggled to understand why the idea that Tenten would be the only girl around not infatuated with the guy—Sakura and Ino didn't even know he was royal!—Sasuke himself was enduring the conversation with the girls.

"So, who are you?" Ino smiled coyly and, without waiting for an answer, continued, "I'm Ino, Yamanaka Ino. She's Sakura… How long have you been around here?"

"Sasuke," he grunted. "Not long."

Ino faltered and Sakura forced a bright smile. "I'm really glad I got to meet you. I should probably help Tsunade, now, though. I'm her apprentice, you know." And she went back inside, ignoring Ino's hiss of _Billboard Brow_, with Naruto staring open-mouthed after her. He would have picked Ino as the sly one.

Sasuke seemed almost impressed, although not surprised, and Ino fumed silently. They sat for a little while, and then the door opened again.

Sakura came outside and held it open while Shizune helped Tenten out. Naruto noticed that the brunette needed much less help than she had on her way in. A blonde woman appeared in the doorway. Her brown eyes met Naruto and Sasuke's blue and black ones. They had no doubt that this was Tsunade, the healer.

"We've bound the wound so that she can walk on it and avoid infection. With sword wounds like this, it's best to have the dressing changed every few days. Ino will go with you to where you're staying, and then come to fetch Tenten when it's time. She should avoid straining her leg, but she'll be able to keep up her usual activities." The woman's business-like manner seemed to work with Tenten, who nodded. Ino seemed overjoyed at being chosen to go with Sasuke a little farther, and sent Sakura a smug look.

Naruto nodded, but he had stopped paying attention a while ago. Had she said _sword wound_? Where would Tenten have gotten a sword stuck in her leg?

They set out, Ino moving to help Tenten but being beaten there by Sasuke. The blonde girl looked a little surprised and more than a little jealous, and Tenten sent Sasuke an annoyed look. But they started walking, and Naruto was glad the cave wasn't that far. It was completely silent.

Ino forced a smile when they reached the cave, "I'll see you in a few days." It could have been directed at Tenten, but it was probably directed Sasuke, who was still next to his companion.

Naruto groaned to himself. This would spell trouble. The one girl who didn't blush over Sasuke, and she was the one the other two would suspect. And then there was the matter of Hinata.

Would she blush and stutter over the handsome newcomer?

----

A little longer than normal, but I'm also trying to write as much as possible: I'm going to camp for four weeks as a junior counselor. XD.

So, starting this week this story will be updated on Saturdays or Sundays! I'm going to write… Three chapters now. One for next weekend, and then one for the next. Then that third weekend there won't be an update: I'm going directly to my grandma's for her birthday, and then back to camp. I'll post the third chapter that next weekend, once I'm done with camp for good, and then things will return to normal. I hope.

I'll try and remind you again later, but that's how things are going to happen now, OK?

Please review! I have cookies again! I want to know what you think of Tenten and Sasuke and your theories for the next chapters! Speaking of which, next chapter they'll rob someone else! And Hinata's back! Yays!

Review and I'll love you! (Last-ditch attempt, I know)


	6. A Castle

Taking to the Woods

Chapter 6: A Castle

----

Kaida weaved between the castle servants, almost suffocating already. She had never been behind walls this thick before, or this many of them. It would hurt her, to be separated from the sun, but she was staying with Hinata.

The Sheriff was suspicious of them. Word had reached him of Uzumaki Naruto's continual survival (due largely to Kaida and Hinata) and avoidance of capture (completely thanks to Neji), and of the Hyuugas' relationship with the boy. And now someone had told him that the two eldest Hyuuga were gone more often than they used to be, without their father's knowledge.

She could only be grateful that she remained out of suspicion, and that Orochimaru had merely requested (with little option to refuse, but still) the Hyuuga family's presence in his castle. So they were staying in Konoha, far away from the forest and Naruto. Hiashi had assured them it wouldn't be long—only until the Sheriff realized they weren't actually helping the fugitives.

Neji was there now, telling Naruto what had happened, and Kaida was covering for him, claiming he had a severe headache that she guessed would often plague him. At the moment, she was taking a meal to his room, which she would leave on a napkin for him to eat whenever he returned, taking the empty tray and dishes back to the kitchen.

She had been expressly forbidden by him to go to the woods, unless she wanted to stay there permanently. No more suspicion than was necessary. Hinata had been given the same speech.

Setting his food down, Kaida fumed. Her only consolation was her continual role gathering gossip for Neji. Even though they were all in Konoha now, Neji had no desire to be social, and Hinata was scared to the point of avoiding Orochimaru's gaze. Not that Kaida blamed her. The thought of the snake-like man made her shudder, and he seemed to realize everyone's reaction to him and enjoy it. It was almost enough to make Kaida take Neji up on his offer to leave for good.

But she wouldn't.

----

Naruto stared at Neji in complete shock. Hinata, locked up in some castle with the snake-man?

It was Tenten who broke the silence. Sasuke was as quiet as ever, and Naruto and Konohamaru were still digesting what Neji had told them.

"Then you can't help us anymore. Stop putting your family at risk—I, at least, can go unrecognized, so I'll take care of buying everything, and you'll be safe."

"Where will you get the money to buy the things you need?" Neji's voice was flat; not insulting Tenten, but not encouraging her idea.

Naruto's voice sounded odd, even to himself. "We'll steal it."

"No. I'll bring you some, whenever I can."

Tenten kept her thoughts to herself, but decided that Neji was letting his generosity turn to stubbornness that would get him in trouble. Naruto's face was also carefully blank, although he wasn't skilled enough to hide a mule-like expression that warned Neji to handle him carefully.

Finally, he seemed to reign in his ideas enough to only suggest they come and get the money themselves. Neji nodded cautiously after Naruto assured him he knew a secret into the town, and the castle itself. The Hyuuga gave the blond directions to his rooms, from inside the castle and to its windows, thankful he was only on the second floor. They were going to sneak in two nights later, and the plans were ready.

As Neji left, making a rare mistake in misreading Naruto's expression, the young bandit's face grew serious to the point of anger.

"Konohamaru, get your bow. Tenten, I hope you can throw those knives of yours. And I hope Sasuke can fake that he knows what to do with a bow."

There was no mistaking where they were going, and Konohamaru filled the other two in on their routine as Naruto led the way to the road.

They were in luck: a wealthy-looking wagon was trundling slowly down the road just as they reached the road.

Naruto practically threw himself in front of the carriage, and Konohamaru glanced over at Sasuke, who seemed to be swearing to himself. It was the most the kid had ever heard Sasuke say, and if Naruto hadn't been holding up some travelers as they spoke, he would have laughed.

"Get out of the wagon and put all of your valuables on the ground!"

They didn't seem interested in Naruto's threats. They looked at him, and the apparent leader, who was wearing enough gems on his fingers alone to feed them for a while, looked down at the blond and spoke haughtily. "Move before we run you over, child."

This seemed to push the young bandit's anger over the edge, which made him coldly intelligent. He looked at Konohamaru, and pointed at the arrogant man's hand, which was resting on the wagon's side. "See if you believe me after this kid shows you his shooting. Keep in mind he's got a smaller bow and less practice than me."

Konohamaru nervously drew his bow, but his aim was good. Naruto had noticed that the young noble had a gift with the weapon that would probably surpass Neji's in time. At a good angle and close range, the kid's arrow landed in between the guy's fingers, harmless but a clear threat.

Things went smoothly after that, and Naruto had Sasuke and Tenten blindfold all of the people. They led them through a smaller path in the woods to a different spot on the road and left them to find their own way back to where they were going.

They had made an enormous amount of money, and Naruto hoped that Kaida would censor news of their exploits for Neji, so that he could think he was supporting them. Naruto wasn't sure what he'd do with the extra money, but he was determined there would be extra money.

Maybe he'd give it away, or find a way to get it back to Neji.

----

Two days later, Naruto and Sasuke were walking anxiously through the crowd of people rushing to get into the city before the gates closed. When you thought about it, it was a horrible time to have the guards change shifts. But the two outlaws were able to sneak in with the crowd, a hood pulled over Naruto's distinctive hair, without being looked at too closely.

Tenten had stayed in the forest because of her still-healing leg, which had been re-wrapped that day, and to keep an eye on Konohamaru. The boy wanted to see his grandfather, and he had been trying to convince Naruto for three hours that this would be the perfect opportunity. The blond wasn't inclined to trust Konohamaru not to follow them and go see his grandfather if they left him alone. Tenten was teaching him to throw knives.

So Sasuke and Naruto went alone. They headed straight for the castle once past the guards, and circled around to the north side. Neji's window was on the second side, but there weren't any windows below it. So they were going to climb.

Naruto knew he was the better climber, so he gave Sasuke a foot up before grabbing one of the protruding stones that made up the castle wall. The stones were huge blocks, but they had not been put together perfectly, and there were footholds and handholds all the way up to Neji's open window. Sasuke made it in without incident, and so did Naruto. They had timed this with the guard's shift change as well, because the guards from the gate had just made it to the castle to take their shift there and the castle guards from before were already down from their watchtowers. No one saw them.

Neji, Hinata and Kaida were waiting. Naruto watched both girls carefully, and while Kaida seemed to recognize now that Sasuke was indeed handsome, she promptly avoided looking at him. Hinata's attention was focused on Naruto, who couldn't help but grin broadly and grab her into a quick hug.

Sitting sulkily in a chair across the room, Neji threw Naruto a bag of coins. The blond looked alarmed, and Kaida whispered, "He hasn't heard about you robbing those Iwa nobles. But if you keep misbehaving he'll hear about something, so be more generic next time. Everyone's talking about the boy who can shoot as well as an adult, and how he's just your apprentice. They think you're some kind of archery god."

He grinned at the mention of Konohamaru's shooting and the idea that he could shoot anywhere near as well. "I won't make any promises," he whispered back to the young maid, who shot him a disgusted look that he ignored.

There wasn't much more to say. Naruto looked out the window briefly and didn't see anyone, so he was halfway out of it when the guard saw him.

"INTRUDER!"

Kaida sword under her breath and pulled Neji roughly out of his chair. She shoved him and Hinata through a connecting door to what Naruto assumed was another one of Neji's rooms, as Naruto dove back into the room just in front of an arrow. The three of them shared a look as someone pounded on the door. It was poorly made, and rattled under the slight pressure.

"We're in trouble," Sasuke observed, and Kaida grabbed the chair Neji had been sitting on, using it to support the door, which was now buckling under the pounding. The Konoha guards were well-organized, and the three of them were trapped between swords and arrows.

Naruto chose arrows. There was a tree near Neji's window. He told Sasuke and Kaida briefly to jump onto the window frame and then into the tree, before doing so himself. Sasuke went second, and was jumping onto the window frame when the door went down.

"GO!" Kaida screamed, almost pushing him before escaping herself. But it was too late—the guards had seen her. Neji and Hinata were behind them, looking confused and amazed as the lady's maid jumped into a tree after two well-known outlaws.

In the tree, Kaida whispered an apology to her friends and followed Naruto out his secret exit, heading back to the woods.

----

Kaida was sulking. She had started once they were safely back in the cave clearing, stopping only briefly when Konohamaru hit the tree he was aiming for with his knife for the first time. Tenten and Konohamaru seemed to sense that something had happened, and Tenten seemed content to wait for Naruto or Sasuke to enlighten her.

Konohamaru was less patient.

"They saw me," Naruto admitted, almost bitterly. "And then they saw Kaida, because she was helping us get out. So now she's staying with us."

The brunette looked up, and they saw a glint of tears in her eyes. But instead of talking about what she'd left behind, she focused on Tenten. "Can you teach me to throw those?"

Tenten nodded, and both girls went to practice using knives. With no one else to turn to, Naruto looked at Sasuke. Another person with a danger to the group. Naruto comforted himself by thinking things couldn't really get worse.

----

Circumstances given, Kaida settled in well. With the entire castle aware in that she was working with the outlaws, and had been helping them sneak into the castle to rob the Sheriff, she was confined to the forest in a similar way to how she'd been confined to the castle. But she was as cheery as Naruto had ever seen her, except when she would get caught thinking about Hinata or Konoha.

She and Tenten had begun sleeping in other caves, testing them all out to see which was the best sheltered from wind, or other things that Naruto hadn't considered when settling in his cave. The girls were convinced that since there were now five people in one cave, and almost even numbers of each gender, they should find another cave nearby and make it the girl's cave. Frankly, they scared Naruto and he was content to let them search for caves.

The two girls got along well, just as Naruto and Konohamaru would coax smiles out of Sasuke and he would surprise them by joining their insult fights and winning.

With Kaida peacefully throwing knives at trees and shares Neji's archery training secrets with Konohamaru, Tenten became the outlaws' link to the outside world. She took their money from robbing the wagon into the city and bought what they needed, and even once met Neji and took the money he was still giving them.

The rest of them were too conspicuous. Naruto's face had been drilled into the guards' memories after his entrance into the city, and Kaida's fame as one who had let him in had doubtless spread, and most of the other servants had seen her when she was staying there. Konohamaru's grandfather was still looking for him, and Naruto didn't want him sneaking around so near his old home. And Sasuke was too easily recognized: his black Uchiha eyes would catch someone's attention.

All the prince had told anyone was that he was no longer a prince. He said that he had wanted to leave his home, and Tenten, a servant, had helped him get away. Even Naruto knew that that wasn't the whole story, or even completely true. But they let Sasuke be.

Whatever they had been, Naruto believed that Sasuke didn't want to be a prince anymore, and was almost happy in their cave.

Things almost went back to normal over the next couple weeks, except that both Kaida and Naruto remained worried about Hinata. It showed in different ways. Kaida avoided talking about the castle and the Hyuugas when possible, while Naruto talked about it as much as possible.

He sent a message to Neji and Hinata through Tenten, which quickly turned into a back-and-forth through Neji and Tenten. Naruto never heard anyone complain about being used as a mail service, but the two being used as such would exchange occasional joking remarks about what the other two's 'are you doing OK?'s might _mean_.

----

"You're sure?"

"Yes, sir."

"Oh, this is good," Orochimaru commented to Kabuto. The guard standing in front of them looked confused. That seemed both obvious and inappropriate at the same time.

The guard, who was quickly dismissed from the Sheriff's presence after delivering his news, had combined the boy he'd seen jumping out of Neji Hyuuga's window with a rumor his wife had told him. The black-haired boy was probably Uchiha Sasuke, the prince who had disappeared into the forest.

And now Orochimaru knew. But what the guard didn't know was that the Sheriff had just been contacted by the ailing King. He wanted his son back, and would pay a ridiculous amount to whoever could find him.

The Sheriff would soon have enough money to turn this little stink hole into something better.

----

Yay, another chapter! Things are building! Next chapter we'll have more on Tenten and Sasuke.

Review, PLEASE!


	7. A Promise

Taking to the Woods

Chapter 7: A Promise

----

Tenten was happy; Sasuke could see that. She had settled into the forest life better than he would have imagined, but the more he thought about, the more he felt he should have seen it coming. She had never been truly happy before, even when she could sneak away for an entire day and learn a new knife trick.

He then had to admit that he was happy, too. Even Naruto's idiocy and Konohamaru's blind imitation of that idiocy couldn't dissuade Sasuke from feeling an odd sense of belonging that centered around their caves and the people living there.

Even when he wanted to leave, the promise he'd made to Tenten kept him around until he didn't want to leave anymore.

"_Sasuke?"_

"_Yeah?"_

"_My other brother left, and Mama says he isn't coming back. Will you promise not to leave me?"_

"_Sure. But you can't tell me what to do."_

----

Tenten laughed distractedly at the latest comment made by the other person buying bread. He'd followed her from the fruit stand to the bakery, and she knew Neji wouldn't approach until he left. His eyes and hair were too distinctive for him to come and talk to her unless she was alone.

Finally escaping the bakery, Tenten jumped into a narrow sidestreet before anyone else could talk to her. And there, as if by magic, was Neji.

Resisting the urge to jump or get angry at him, Tenten asked calmly, "How'd you know I'd come in here?"

"I didn't, but I assumed," Neji told her just as calmly. "If you'd gone somewhere else, I would have gone there, but this street seemed as if it would attract you the most."

"Attract me?"

"It's empty."

"Ah," she said, and leaned against the nearest wall. They were meeting for money today, although Neji also had another message from Hinata.

Before the silence could settle between them, Tenten pushed herself off the wall so she was standing up straight, and hiding Neji's arm from the market area. "I'll take the money first, it's more annoying."

He raised an eyebrow in his familiar expression. "Since when is living annoying?"

The brunette rolled her eyes and took the small bag he held out. "It's just…" she hesitated, not sure how to tell him—how they all hated being dependant on him and his 'headaches.' "You're taking so many risks, and I can't see why you're still doing it. Kaida got caught and you're technically free to go home, but you can't really. And meanwhile, there are five of us now. And all of eat enough for two people, except when we start running low on food."

Which hadn't happened since they'd robbed the wagon, although it would probably start again soon without Neji's help. But she didn't mention that, because he thought that it was already happening.

"That's why I'm doing it," Neji said cryptically. "Hinata says to tell Naruto to be careful. She's not telling anyone, but she's getting worried. Also, Hanabi mentioned something about Prince Itatchi coming to Konoha—he might have heard that Sasuke's here, which could mean trouble."

Tenten nodded, and was about to leave when Neji grabbed her wrist. He seemed reluctant to go on, but didn't release her wrist, so she waited. "Tell Kaida that Hinata misses her, but hasn't hired a new maid. Tell Naruto that Sasuke's brother's arrival could give us an opportunity, but I don't know what yet," he said cautiously. Tenten caught the hidden link between the two messages—this outlaw business had hurt Neji's family a good deal, and he was looking for a way to put things back to normal.

She couldn't help feeling a little disappointed at the idea of it all ending. Doubtless she and Sasuke would remain in the forest. Tenten couldn't help but think it would be very lonely without the others and gathering gossip and passing messages between Naruto and Hinata.

Shaking herself mentally, she nodded farewell to Neji again. On her way out of the city, she passed a filthy, crying young girl being soothed by a boy a couple years older than her who was obviously her brother. Catching a bit of their conversation, Tenten realized with a jolt that their parents were dead, and they were hungry. Filled with a sudden purpose that was fueled by her ideas that the good times might be coming to an end, the teenager went up to the children, taking the boy's hand and holding it palm-up.

She dropped Neji's money bag into his open hand and curled his fingers around it, which was hard because it was bigger than his hand.

"Take good care of her," Tenten whispered, fighting the rising lump in her throat, and she walked away.

Later, she told Kaida, who understood the charity they were receiving, about what she'd done. The other girl laughed.

"About time we found a good use for that money," she said enthusiastically. "We've got to tell Naruto, this is brilliant. We'll be back in the robbing business, but it'll be for a good cause!"

----

Naruto and Konohamaru loved it, and Sasuke gave Tenten a knowing look before voicing his satisfaction with the irony of the idea.

"After all," said the prince, who was slowly speaking more and more, "They'll be a little poorer because of a mixed group of nobles and commoners, who automatically choose to side with the commoners."

Kaida beamed at Sasuke—she'd mostly got over his handsome face, and treated him normally now, especially when he agreed with her.

They started holding people up on the road regularly. They changed locations every time, but their choice of staying on high ground and being quick with slight theatrics remained the same. Pickings became slimmer as smart nobles realized that the forest was dangerous, and every guard you could find was scared of a bow. Hiring guards who used bows themselves caused Naruto's gang to tread a little more carefully, but were still susceptible to surprise attacks, and Tenten proved to be good with slings.

The best job was distributing the money. They all got to do this, because it became part of waiting along the road. Poor people used it just as frequently as rich people, especially when word escaped that those in need would meet a charming teenager (those who met Konohamaru were often skeptical, due to his explosive hatred of being called a child) who would give them some money and guide through the quicker forest trails to where ever they were going.

It got to the point where Naruto made a new rule: ask people where they're going. If it's back where they came from; disappear.

The five of them became pretty good at both aspects of their new roles. Neither Neji nor Hinata, through her brother, mentioned their activities, and Tenten wondered what they did all day.

It's was Sasuke's idea to give their victims food.

"Some gifts for their donation," Konohamaru said with a wicked smile. "And they can't use food to buy new clothes."

It blossomed into sitting down and eating the meal with them when one particularly hard-headed noble refused to either accept the food or be knocked out.

Without knowing it, they had become legends across the country. The gentlemen (Tenten and Kaida protested this title) outlaws who were all nobles, like those they robbed, but instead gave the money to the commoners after treating the nobles to a commoner's meal. It was like Sasuke had predicted, only they were all said to be princes and princesses instead of a mix of people.

"Well, they're more right than they know," Kaida said fairly. "Whoever made that up figured we were all lower nobles, at best. Didn't know we actually had one real prince with us; although that's good for us… Personally," she continued, changing the subject with a laugh, "I don't like the ring of 'Princess Kaida.' _Lady_ Kaida's not bad, but I don't think my mother wanted me to be a princess when she named me…"

Tenten laughed. "Oh, my mother definitely did," She said knowingly. She pitched voice higher and sounded nasally as she impersonated her mother, "'Princess Tenna will be what they call you someday, mark my words!' Don't know why she wanted me to change my name to 'Tenna' but all it did was make me never want to be called that again." She smirked, and Naruto noticed Sasuke was smirking as well, although he seemed more distracted by the past than Tenten, who mentioned it calmly.

"Prince Naruto…" the blond boy mused out loud, and Sasuke snorted.

"Work on your eating habits before trying to take my place."

"Hey!"

They were interrupted by Konohamaru's blunt entrance. The runaway had been giving out some money and watching for rich travelers, and his face told the others that he'd seen one of the latter.

Grabbing their various weapons, they ran after Konohamaru, who had taken off again.

It was a delegation, and it flew the white flag of peace; probably a bribe for Orochimaru, so Naruto didn't let the white flag bother him as he signaled to attack. There were no guards, which confused the bandits, until an angry-looking blonde woman, maybe two years older than Naruto, flew out of the carriage. She wielded an almost oversized sword, but handled it expertly.

Naruto was bluntly reminded of the first time he'd seen Tenten—this woman had the same manner that he'd grown used to in his friend. She knew she could hurt him.

As if sensing the challenge, Tenten emerged from the leafy cover, pulling her largest knife from its sheaf. She met the blonde woman's eye, and jerked her head as if saying 'I _can_ hit you with this if you don't drop that sword.'

Meanwhile, Naruto had addressed the others in the carriage, and two more people had emerged.

Two boys, probably the younger brothers of the blonde woman. One of them wasn't much younger than her, about Tenten's age. He seemed more restrained than his sister, but no less dangerous. Whatever he could do, it was hidden, and Naruto hoped it didn't prove lethal.

The last boy drew all of their eyes. He was about Naruto's age, but somehow seemed a little younger and much older. His brownish-red hair set off his face, which was paler than either of his siblings'. Sasuke's eyes widened at the sight of him, and Tenten signaled Naruto that he was the leader.

"Drop all your valuables and we'll let you go on your way," Naruto instructed, not wanting to spend any more time than was necessary with these people.

The woman all but snarled. The younger boy responded though, bidding his siblings to stand down. "We're on official business. If you fear your Sheriff, you will step aside."

Naruto burst out laughing, and Kaida and Konohamaru revealed their positions by nearly falling over their own feet as they bit back laughter and craned to get a better look at the redhead that had made this comment.

"Not to be obvious," Tenten stated, trying to save the others' dignity, "But we don't have much respect, let alone fear, for Orochimaru."

Kaida's mutter of the Sheriff's less appealing nickname, 'snake bastard,' caught a gentle breeze and was carried down to Naruto and the three siblings. Konohamaru repressed another grin at the use of the swear word.

The younger boy jerked his head up to look at her, and she shrugged while holding her arrow's aim at his brother. "It's true," she said matter-of-factly and without remorse.

"Your valuables!" Naruto insisted, telling himself not to be distracted.

"No," the older responded simply, and reached for something hidden in the folds of his loose shirt. He didn't complete the action.

An arrow flew and caught one of the folds of his sleeve, instead of his arm as Kaida had intended, pinning his shirt to the side of the carriage. Tenten sheathed her knife as the arrow flew, grabbing her sling and a stone within the next second. Caught by the arrow, the boy was easy prey for Tenten's amazing accuracy, and he went down.

His sister caught him, yanking the arrow out and lowering him to the ground. "Kankuro!" she yelled at him, as if his name would wake him up.

"He's alive," Tenten called, "But you might want to listen to us now!"

The younger boy stepped in front of his siblings, glaring at all of them in turn. "No," he repeated, and Naruto knew they were in trouble because Sasuke stood up.

"Gaara! Drop the farce—it's only your pride in the way now. Suna would never do business with a roach like Orochimaru and not be glad to have the convenient excuse of bandits to get out of it."

Every single one of them whirled around to face the prince, who was using a tone of authority that reminded Naruto of Neji.

The blonde woman was amazed, and even the redhead, who had shown little emotion before this, gaped at Sasuke.

"Sasuke…" Kaida started slowly, voicing most of the bandit's confusion. Only Tenten seemed to understand anything, and she looked like she'd been hit on the head with a hammer. The younger brunette continued, "What's goin' on?"

Tenten looked between the three siblings before speaking, her voice higher than normal. "This is the daughter of the Sheriff of Suna, Temari. And her younger brothers, Kankuro and Gaara."

"_You know them?!"_

"Yeah," Sasuke said in an off-hand way. "And I technically outrank all of them. Not that it matters out here."

Naruto groaned. "There're coming with us now, aren't they? Catching up time…"

Sasuke nodded, and Tenten slid down the steep hill to help carry Kankuro, looking guilty.

----

Ok guys, we're already there!

The next chapter will come late, probably around two weeks from now. I know, it's _horrible_, but there you have it.

For now: review! Tell me how you liked it, loved it, or hated it. Hopefully not hate, but I think I can take it. Just let me now! I have marshmallows!


	8. A Surprise

Taking to the Woods

Chapter 8: A Surprise

----

Naruto was wary of the three nobles, because he had never pictured the idea of Orochimaru having children, and Orochimaru was the only image that came to mind when he thought of Sheriffs.

Of course, none of them looked like Orochimaru. Temari was actually pretty once you got past her bushy hair and fierce glares. Kankuro and Gaara were obviously brothers, and Naruto felt guilt squirm in his stomach as he watched Tenten and Gaara carry Kankuro through the forest.

To avoid looking at Kankuro's bruised skull, Naruto went in the front of the group, leading them through the trees and bushes to Tsunade's cottage.

They met Ino and Sakura on the way. At the sight of Sasuke, who was just behind Naruto, both girls went completely still and tense, as if waiting for the beginning of a race. Shaking his head, Naruto called out to them.

"Hey, Sakura, Ino. We've got someone with an injured head that we want Tsunade to look at. Where is she?"

"The cottage," Ino said distractedly, still staring at Sasuke and watching Sakura out of the corner of her eyes.

"You won't be able to take him into the cottage, but if he's not gushing blood he'll be fine outside," Sakura continued, and Tenten snuck an apprehensive look at Kankuro's unconscious face. There wasn't any blood, and the brunette breathed a sigh of relief.

Kaida, who had seen Tenten's immediate worry, sent Konohamaru a laughing look that he didn't return. He'd been scowling at the ambassadors from Suna ever since they admitted that was what they were. To Sarutobi's grandson, the greatest evil in the world was Orochimaru, and these people had been working with him.

While Kaida was hoping that Konohamaru's anger wouldn't burst out of him in a very Naruto-like way, they had continued to the cottage. Tsunade came out, followed by Shizune, and quickly pronounced that Kankuro just had a big bump on his head.

"He'll be a little groggy, but passing out saving him from seeing stars or getting any real confusion. He should come to in less than an hour, although being hauled around the forest won't help that guess," Tsunade said dismally before standing up.

Tenten sighed and stood up as well, grabbing the unconscious boy's feet as his brother grabbed his arms. They started walking again, this time back to the caves.

In the silence, Sasuke looked over at Kaida. "Who told you that Orochimaru was a 'snake bastard'?"

The girl grinned evilly, and Konohamaru looked away from glaring at the Suna nobles to smile broadly as Kaida explained. "This guard was searching through people's stuff at the gates to the town, and this one guy was really mad about it. The guard just kept saying it was the Sheriff's orders, and finally the guy said, mostly to himself but I heard it, 'well, the sheriff is a snake bastard!' And the guard didn't do anything, so I figured it was pretty common." She shrugged, "I think it suits him."

"Me too," Konohamaru proclaimed, looking over at Gaara and Temari as if daring them to protest. They didn't. This seemed to help quash the boy's temper, and he let some of the tension fall out of his shoulders.

They reached the clearing around the caves, and Naruto halted suddenly. He cursed under his breath and would have dived into the nearby weeds except Tenten grabbed his shirt and hauled him back. "Act casual, stupid!" she hissed at him.

Neji was sitting serenely in front of the boy's cave, but Tenten knew instinctively that he'd seen the movement as Naruto dove. Turning quickly, she instructed the Sunese ambassadors to stay put before hauling Naruto out of the trees.

"Hey, Neji." She was cautious, and her worries were quickly proven accurate.

"Sasuke," Neji started, using his angry authority voice. "Why didn't you tell us that your life was in danger? I told you your brother was coming, and you neglect to mention that he's coming to _kill _you?!"

Sasuke didn't flinch, but Tenten did. Neji rounded on her. "And you! His fiancée—Lady of some important castle! Itachi will kill you too!"

Tenten jumped up, "I am _not_ his fiancée! They were starting to imply it, that's why I _left_!"

"You left because his crazy brother wanted everyone else in the family dead!"

"No," Tenten argued fiercely, "That's why he left! I just couldn't take it anymore; I was about to leave anyway! You should understand part of it, Young Lord Hyuuga! Except you've never been watched so closely you couldn't breathe! _You _never had to do it in dresses that were designed to keep you from _moving_!"

She had moved closer to him with every accusing word, and now they were nearly nose-to-nose. He matched her glare, and the moment of intense silence was broken by Sasuke.

"Tenten, slow down. She's right though," he told Neji. "Tenten was raised mostly by her father in a remote but large forest property. She spent three months a year in my parent's court with her mother, who never liked the outdoors. She was considered a wild-girl, until two years ago when her father died and she had to stay with her mother, who was angling in every way to get her into my family. When I came to ask her help a month ago, she was _literally_ planning her escape."

"Not planning," Tenten muttered, "Doing. I was halfway out the window when you barged in."

Neji continued to look furious, but Konohamaru sat down casually. With the knack that children have for seeing the truth and the speaking abilities of an adult, he stated calmly, "Well, that makes sense. Most mothers don't plan for their kids to be Princesses unless there's a shot at it. I just couldn't see you as a lady, so I didn't know why your mom thought you had a shot."

The brunette smiled grimly. "You're a smart kid."

Konohamaru scowled, but his heart wasn't in it. Things had changed.

----

They operated mostly in silence after Neji left, fetching Temari and Gaara from the trail, knowing they had heard the whole thing. Temari was eyeing Tenten thoughtfully, and the other girl ignored it.

Things actually flowed normally, if in a tense silence, until Sasuke stood up abruptly during dinner, which was cold because no one wanted to hunt or start a fire. Even habit couldn't intrude on the conversations that were waiting to happen.

"Tenten, grab your stuff. We're leaving."

Despite her pained expression, she moved to follow his instructions, making a brief attempt at initiating a poker face. She vanished into the falling shadows with the skill all of them had developed without knowing it. Kaida bit her lip before throwing a desperate look at Naruto and moving to follow her friend.

The blond caught her wrist, pulling her back to the ground with unusual force. "Go ahead," Naruto said in an odd tone. "Best of luck in running from your crazy brother."

"Naruto!" Kaida was shocked, and looked around for back-up. Finding only Konohamaru, who looked suddenly more like a child than she could remember, the ex-maid pulled her knees to her chest and hid her face. "You can't let them go," she said around her knees. "You just can't."

Sasuke snorted, "Yes he can—he's finally grown a brain. We're not only a danger anymore, but now we're a source of tension. You'll be bitter about it," he informed Naruto, "But I get the feeling you're good at goodbyes, whatever anyone else thinks."

And he too vanished into the evening darkness.

----

The remaining three outlaws wandered around aimlessly the rest of the night. The Sunese ambassadors, Kankuro having woken up soon after, were shown the caves and retreated to sleep quickly. If anything, it made the other three more reluctant to go to sleep, because Kaida knew that Temari, who definitely reminded her of Tenten, would have chosen the same spot to sleep in. Sasuke had always taken up enough room for two people, which Naruto put down to his royal upbringing, but the blond now resented that two people would actually fill that space. Even put together they couldn't replace Sasuke.

But they finally moved to their beds, still in silence, and fell into fitful sleep.

The next day was worse. Neji didn't return, and Konohamaru mused out loud that he'd probably found out about their continued carriers as criminals and philanthropists. Kaida laughed, somewhat hollowly, at his word choice before saying that Neji had probably heard about that a long time ago and been hoping it wasn't true.

Gaara, Temari and Kankuro kept to themselves and showed no desire to continue to Konoha or return to Suna.

Naruto sighed to himself, wondering what any of them would do now.

----

Hinata was finding she had more and more stress. It was usually both built up and expended during the castle ladies' daily embroidery session that lasted several hours between lunch and dinner. In her early days at the castle, Hinata had had Kaida to bring her coffee or tea, and occasionally some food. The maid would then make faces behind some of the ladies as she passed by, using what Hanabi referred to as her 'ninja skills' to avoid being seen by the others.

The middle Hyuuga missed her friend sorely, and was surprised to see the scope of Kaida's contributions to her chances of having a good day. Hinata had always thought that Kaida was less of a maid and more of a friend. She usually debated changing that idea during the long hours of needle work.

The other ladies gossiped solely about everyone else in the castle and the outlaws in the forest. Hinata spent most of the time ripping out stitches she'd messed up when her fingers slipped at one of the ladies' more surprising comments.

"I heard that the Sheriff is going to put a rather high price on the leader's head. He wants them dead particularly now, because they've kidnapped all three of the Sheriff of Suna's children!"

Hinata missed a stitch. Another lady replied, "Yes they kidnapped the eldest first. The father's favorite, he sent the boys to challenge her abductors. The filthy criminals just kidnapped the two of them as well! Although I expect he'll be glad to be rid of the youngest."

"Oh, of course," a third woman replied impatiently. "The real news is the outlaws themselves. Now, you know I've never believed this nonsense about them being royalty. Far too many of them for that. But I have it from a good source that their leader is actually Lord Sorenson's missing boy!"

There were several scandalized noises at the suggestion that the notorious outlaw could be fourth in line for the throne, and Hinata actually stabbed her finger with the needle. Looking dismally down at her finger and embroidery, she put her finger in her mouth while reaching for her seam ripper with the other hand.

She almost missed the next comment. "That must be why the Crown Prince is coming here!" The second woman exclaimed as she put the imaginary pieces together, and Hinata barely avoided stabbing herself with the seam ripper.

Naruto was in trouble.

----

As an unspoken rule, every member of the outlaw band had a different way of dealing with stress. Naruto trained and attacked trees, then took every insulting comment you could throw at him with a blank face and no response. Konohamaru would disappear for hours, and Tenten had speculated that he went towards his grandfather's house as far as he could until he decided to come back again. Her expression had been one of understanding, so they believed her without an explanation. Now, of course, they understood that Konohamaru's method was probably her old method.

Kaida's was the least complicated. She would become edgy and paranoid until someone noticed and calmed her down. She wasn't difficult to calm down, and Naruto was thankful for that as she jumped at another small sound.

"Relax," he ordered wearily, growing tired of her wide eyes and quick movements. Konohamaru was gone again, and Temari and her brothers were just watching the tension rise.

The brunette whipped around to face her leader, and seemed to relax when she saw his calm face. Then her anxiety flared up again. "Where would they go?" It was almost a whisper, and filled with clear worry.

"To Tenten's father's land," Gaara spoke suddenly. "They'll be safe there for a while, because Itachi doesn't know the ways through the forest like Tenten does. Then they'll find somewhere else where they'll be really safe."

Despite his lack of real information, Kaida believed him and relaxed. Temari was about to change the subject when Sakura and Ino burst into the clearing, breathless from racing each other to see Sasuke.

Ino was the first to collect herself. "We're here to check of Tenten's wound for the last time. You guys didn't show up so Tsunade sent us." She didn't seem deterred by Tenten's absence, or the three strangers staring at the two apprentices.

"She's, um, not here," Naruto cast a sideways look at Kaida. "She seemed fine when she left last night though, so I guess it's OK."

"Oh," Ino paused. "Is Sasuke here?"

The two remaining outlaws flinched simultaneously. Sakura understood. "He's gone too, isn't he? Just when…" She trailed off and avoided looking at Ino.

"Yeah. They felt like they were a danger to us, because of… well…" Kaida trailed off in a similar way to Sakura, and they shared a look.

"So they left together?" Ino sounded annoyed.

Naruto and Kaida almost laughed at this implication. Ino's question went unanswered, but everyone watching noticed that the outlaws' smiles seemed unfamiliar on their faces.

Konohamaru chose this moment to reappear, and was greeted by large smiles he hadn't been expecting. But instead of asking questions, he smiled back.

----

And there's the new chapter.

Can't say much but that things are getting tense. =D.

Review for cookies!!


	9. A Team

Taking to the Woods

Chapter Nine: A Team

----

After a week, Naruto felt like he'd traded brains with Kaida. She had become so tense over lack of information (Neji still hadn't come back, and when they had tried to go into the city they had been recognized before they even got near the gate) that she was taking her stress out on trees and other people. Naruto, meanwhile, was becoming mentally and physically exhausted from attacking trees, so he became tense and jumpy.

His new pet peeve was loud noises. Temari's outbursts, Kankuro's occasional habit of touching the wrong spot on his head, Kaida's tree-beatings, and everyone's growing snappy attitudes all created loud enough noises to result in a quick 'shh'-ing by Naruto.

They realized things were getting worse when Konohamaru stood up during a blooming argument and said, "You know, I'm starting to think I'm the oldest person here. You guys are acting like my baby cousin."

And the kid stalked off, Naruto realized he was right. They'd started off hoping for the best for Sasuke and Tenten, then ignoring their disappearance. And that had pretty much driven them insane.

Making a decision, Naruto went after Konohamaru. When he caught up to him, he took a deep breath and started talking.

"I'm going after Sasuke and Tenten. You and Kaida are going to sneak into Konoha and stay with your grandpa for a while. It's getting colder, so you won't have a problem with laying low."

"And how does that plan make sense?!" Konohamaru stopped right where he was walking.

"Sasuke and Tenten need us, and we clearly need them. Naruto stopped, too, and turned to face Konohamaru with his arms crossed. "Besides, don't you want to see your grandpa?"

The kid spluttered for a moment. "Well… yes! But not really! I mean, I do, but I… I'm not leaving the forest! You can try and make me!"

But before Naruto could try, the brunet boy started running back towards their camp. Once he was nearly there, he started yelling for Kaida.

The female outlaw stood up, confused. "What happened?"

"He's trying to make us leave!"

Her eyes widened, then turned angry as she rounded on Naruto, "You _what?!_ No way!"

Konohamaru smirked and stood next to her, officially outnumbering their blond leader. "I told him to try and make us," he said smugly.

"Yeah, let's see him try it!" Kaida agreed, reaching for a knife at her waist. Naruto suddenly remembered that Tenten had been teaching her to throw knives. A sudden, and probably irrational, fear overtook him that Kaida could have learned the older girl's skills and impeccable aim.

But he didn't have another option. "We can't all go find them, and I think I know where they went. More than you two, anyway. And where else could you guys go?"

"Right here," Konohamaru answered immediately.

Kaida nodded, and an unexpected voice came from behind them all. "They'll need to help us get home, anyway," Temari said blankly, ignoring her brothers' surprised looks. "And Suna is in the other direction from where you're going. They can take us back, and we'll supply them to live out here during the winter—we'll even give them enough supplies for five people."

Temari hid her generosity behind a brash smile, and Naruto gave in.

"OK," he said. "We'll all leave tomorrow."

----

Kaida shifted from foot to foot, craning her neck to see as far as possible. Konohamaru looked at her weirdly.

"What if Neji comes back? He won't know where we are… Oh!" She got an idea, and started digging in her bag. "We'll leave him a note!"

Konohamaru didn't say anything except, "This would make so much more sense if you two were dating…"

Her head snapped up. "What? In what universe would that make sense?! He's practically my brother, and is my unofficial boss." She made a face and Konohamaru let the subject drop. But Kaida continued to try and explain it. "It's like… like Sasuke and Tenten getting married. The idea just… doesn't work."

The kid nodded and let Kaida write her note.

As she placed it in the safety of one of the caves, Naruto came out of the other one.

Kaida and Konohamaru each gave him a hug before telling him to be safe and picking up their stuff.

"We'll see you in a couple weeks. And we'll actually have some decent blankets, too," Kaida joked, making light of the continual separation of their group.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed in the same cheery tone. "Take care of each other, and then we'll be back as a team again before you know it."

Konohamaru bit his lip, wanting to go with Naruto. But he'd heard stories of all the travelling the blond had done in the last ten years. He wouldn't be able to keep up. So, as they all left the caves they called home, nothing was said of the travel arrangements. Kaida and Kankuro immediately started jabbering pointlessly to cover up any tension, although the girl was prone to looking over her shoulder.

Konohamaru didn't look back though. He was responsible for four people now (although none of them would say he was in charge), and he'd show his leader what he could do.

----

"They're gone," was all Neji said as he collapsed into his favorite chair in Hinata's room. He put his head in his hand and didn't meet his sister's eye as he delivered the news.

Hinata's head snapped up from her book, which she dropped on the floor as she went over to sit in the chair next to Neji. "What?"

"They're gone," he repeated. "When I found out about Sasuke and Tenten… I yelled and… the two of them went off on their own. It took Naruto less than a week before he decided to go after them. Kaida and Konohamaru are taking some people I've never heard of back to Suna."

A realization swept through Hinata, and she could barely manage to say, "Were their names Temari, Kankuro and Gaara?"

Neji shook his head. "I don't know. Kaida left this note," he pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to her. "That's the only reason I'm not looking for them right now."

Hinata recognized the handwriting as Kaida's, who had horrible handwriting because she hadn't learned until Hinata had taught her at age eleven.

_Neji-_

_Would have told you, but you didn't come around in time. So I can only hope you find this, otherwise you'll probably tear the forest apart while we're gone._

_Sasuke and Tenten left the night you told us their story. Naruto let them go. I'm not sure if he thought we'd be safer without them, or if they'd be safer without us. Either way, he's come to his senses now, and is going after them._

_He'll bring them back, and probably beat us home._

_Konohamaru and I are taking some nobles we waylaid (ask some castle gossiper, they'll probably know even more than we do) back to Suna. I'll explain everything to you when we get back. Just don't worry, because Temari will probably protect all five of us. And they're going to give us winter supplies, so you guys can keep your money for your own winter needs, and we won't have to rob anyone in a snowstorm._

_Sorry for being hectic and confusing, but we'll see you in a couple weeks! Hopefully you'll be back in Hyuuga Manor by then (with us gone) and the five of us can sneak in and have a proper Christmas with you and Hinata._

_Either way, good luck to you both._

_-Kaida_

Hinata closed her eyes for a moment before looking at her brother. Their pale eyes met and sadness and guilt flowed between them.

"I'm going to get us back home," Neji said resolutely.

Hinata's decision was just as final, "I'll help you."

----

After a week on the road, passing from snowy forests to just _cold_ desert, Kaida was almost as glad to see Suna as Temari and her brothers were.

Konohamaru was less glad and more focused. "How's this going to work?" he asked bluntly. "Can we just all walk in? Or should you three go in alone and we'll wait here? Or are we all going to sneak in?"

His options were met with a shrug. "We can just go in," Kankuro said. "Then everyone'll know we're home, but we can just get through all of them by saying we have to go see our father."

"Alright then."

They kept walking, and reached the one and only entrance to Suna soon afterwards. As Kankuro had predicted, people were disbelieving and wanted to see the siblings themselves—and hear what had happened for themselves.

The quiet Gaara, who was receiving less attention than his siblings but much more than either of the young outlaws, was the one who got them through the crowd. He refused to be distracted, although he nodded at everyone who addressed him before moving on and pulling the other four with him. Konohamaru wondered at his odd relationship with the people but let it slide as they passed through the gates.

Kankuro was less patient. "Where's our father?" he asked the nearest eager villager.

A shadow passed over the woman's happy face. She answered carefully, "In his study. He's been there since you three left. I've heard he's sick, but I'm hoping he's just worried and a mite lonely."

A small snort came from Gaara's direction, but they were too busy being hurried along by the suddenly worried Temari to notice.

The Sheriff's study wasn't far, but they hurried to it and were able to reach it in a couple minutes. They were almost running when they reached the building it was in (which was clearly the Sheriff's actual home), and were completely ignoring the other villagers now.

Without bothering to knock, Kankuro opened a door on the second floor. "Father?"

A shadowy figure looked up near the window. The dim light streaming in behind him made it hard to see his face, but there was a definite resemblance to Kankuro in his face. His posture and air of competence were Temari's, though, and something in his expression had passed on to Gaara.

He seemed stunned to have his lost children burst into his study suddenly, but any chance his expression would change to joy was ruined as he saw Kaida and Konohamaru hanging behind the other three.

"You!" His finger moved to point accusingly at them. "You're those outlaws from Konoha—the ones that kidnapped my children!"

"Oh crap," Kaida muttered as she and Konohamaru backed up instinctively.

The kid agreed, "We're in trouble. Should we be running?"

As Kaida was about to say that sounded like a good idea, Temari interrupted.

"Father! They didn't capture us; we went with them!"

He rounded on her. "Then why did you come back? You ally yourselves with outlaws and then waltz right back in to my home as though haven't heard what they've been doing?" As she cringed, he accused the outlaws again, "Flaunting the authority of my fellow Sheriff! Highway robbery! Hypnotizing the Sheriff's supporters to turn against him!"

"Excuse me? When have we done that?!" Kaida was indignant at the lies in a way she hadn't been about the real charges. "I betrayed one of them and don't even know who the other one is!"

"You're lying," he stated simply, and Kaida grabbed Konohamaru's shoulder.

"We have to get out of here," she said, and he nodded rapidly in agreement.

So they ran. Out of the house, and away from the family's brewing argument. And eventually they were out of Suna all together, crouching behind a sand dune and missing the trees of their forest. They hid there, eventually wrapping themselves in blankets and getting somewhat warm, until Gaara and Kankuro found them hours later.

"Sorry," Konohamaru said distractedly. "We should have stayed out here from the beginning."

Kankuro sat down beside them. "It's fine. He's never been the best person to get along with, and it's gotten worse while we were gone…" He looked up at Gaara, who nodded. The older brother continued, "Temari's bringing the stuff we promised you. Basically, we just wanted to say thanks, and if you ever need any help, just let us know."

"And there's something else," Gaara took up the speech. "My father accused you of turning people against Orochimaru. That's because several people, including your friend Neji, have disobeyed his specific orders or threats."

Kaida looked up, "They're back at Hyuuga Manor?" she asked excitedly.

The brothers shook their heads. "Neji is under house arrest in his rooms because he was making arrangements to do that," Gaara explained. Kaida's expression fell and Konohamaru looked stunned.

"This is getting worse, not better!" he yelled suddenly, and jumped up. "When's Temari getting here, we have to go back!"

"She's here," Gaara said calmly, pointing past the others to where Temari was leading a pack pony carrying several large bundles. Kaida and Konohamaru exchanged a look.

The blonde reached the other four and presented the pony to the outlaws proudly. "Here you go, as promised."

Kaida looked at Konohamaru again before shaking her head. The kid moved to take the packs off the horse as she explained. "Thanks, but no thanks. We really are grateful, it's just… we aren't going back the way we came."

Konohamaru nodded as he threw the brunette a pack. She caught it with a small grunt as he went to unstrap the next one, "We need to hurry this time, so we can meet back up with Naruto as soon as possible. Things are happening too fast," he said ruefully.

"We'll send for you if it gets out of hand," Kaida said with a sigh as she shouldered her pack. It wasn't that bad, but she knew the straps would begin to pull her down soon enough. "Thanks again."

The Sand Siblings, as Sasuke had referred to them, watched the noble boy and ex-maid adjust their packs and walk off in silence. If either outlaw had seen their expressions, they would have been glad to be leaving, because all three siblings had something bordering respect blooming on their faces.

----

Naruto was jogging past trees and plants at his favorite travelling pace when he saw them.

Frankly, it would have been hard to miss them. Tenten had moved from projectiles to explosions (which Naruto guessed were homemade but couldn't imagine how she'd made them) that she could either throw or place for someone to step on. Sasuke was using his long sword with the grace of someone trained from before he could walk, and as Naruto jumped (literally) into the battle, he knew he couldn't match that grace.

So he didn't try, and focused on bashing as many of the Sheriff's men (and he knew that was what they were because there was no leader or reason, just random attacks) as he could.

Sasuke didn't miss a beat in adjusting his attacks to fit around Naruto, but Tenten paused after throwing an explosive. "Naruto?!"

"Yeah!" was his simple reply before tackling another guard around the waist.

The team was on its way back.

----

Author's Note:

Yay, we're back!

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	10. A Window

Taking to the Woods

Chapter Ten: A Window

----

"What are you doing here?" Tenten asked Naruto, looking as if she didn't really care. Her normally cheerful face was alight with joy at the return of the blond outlaw. When Naruto didn't answer, the brunette changed her question. "I mean, how'd you find us? _Why_ did you find us?"

At this better question, Naruto turned to answer, pausing to think, "I… I don't know, I just went in the direction I thought you'd be. I'm fast enough that I caught up to you, and you were making a lot of noise." He shrugged and went on to the next question. "I came to get you guys because we missed you and it was stupid to let you leave. And you'll be safer with us anyway."

Sasuke snorted, "How so?"

Crossing his arms, Naruto just looked at his friend. "How _not_? Besides, there's safety in numbers."

He nodded sagely and there was no more protest.

----

Hinata sighed as Hanabi sniffed one last time. The little girl had just gotten over a cold, and was apparently still suffering from some of the symptoms, and been released from her sister's strict bed rest when she'd gone running down the halls and through rooms. Then she'd tripped and skinned her entire left shin.

Hinata wasn't sure if the girl's sniffling was from the stuffy nose or if she was holding back crying. Sighing again, Hinata patted her sister's shoulder a few times. "It should be fine now," she said, gesturing to Hanabi's newly wrapped leg.

"Thanks, Hina," Hanabi said, jumping down from the tall chair she'd been put in. She winced a little as she put weight on her injured leg, but it didn't seem to bother her beyond that.

As Hanabi left, Neji came in. He swerved to the side to avoid her, and as Hanabi continued running carelessly, he shook his head. Before he could comment on her apparent desire to hurt herself, Hinata moved to sit on her favorite chair and looked him over, saying, "Are you injured, too?"

"No. But we need a plan for when Naruto and the rest get back."

She felt an unexplainable joy that her brother was including her in his planning, but Hinata didn't let it show. Instead, she commented, "It has been nearly two weeks now, hasn't it? Hopefully they'll be back soon, and then…" She stopped not wanting to say 'then things can go back to normal.' When had this become normal?

Luckily, Neji took her hesitation as an agreement that they needed a plan. "I think we should get their help to overthrow Orochimaru. He can't get any more unpopular, and Sasuke needs a safe haven anyway," he said. Hinata gasped.

"What?"

"Sasuke. His brother is hunting him, and his parents are sick to the point of dying—all Itachi's work—so eventually he'll have to come forward and prove that he's the only candidate for the throne," Neji said obviously.

Thinking back, Hinata tried to remember what she knew about the royal family and their life. "Isn't it against their rule system to kill people for the throne?" she asked. And then, realizing, "Why is Itachi being so obvious about it?"

Neji shrugged, "I don't know, it doesn't matter anyways. Sasuke'll need backing, and we want a new Sheriff. Logically, whoever comes to power will realize that they owe us and that we'll consider it even if they help Sasuke. If Konoha backs him, Suna will have to. That'll at least level the playing field for Sasuke."

Satisfied that they at least had a plan, Hinata said, "Let's try it. I want to get out of here."

"That's the idea," Neji said dryly.

----

Naruto was the first one to step into the clearing, looking around at the caves, rocks and trees in satisfaction. "Home, sweet home," he declared, and went to reclaim his sleeping spot.

But Sasuke noticed other things, like the overcast skies and nearly leafless trees. He commented to Tenten, "I think we're about to get our first freezing rain."

She nodded, but seemed more interested in taking in everything about their odd home. The winter didn't seem like a problem to her after Naruto had explained that Kaida and Konohamaru were on their way back with food and blankets. "We'll get through it," she said simply.

"Of course we will," Naruto said, seeming actually surprised that there had been any doubt. As if at random, he changed the subject. "How should we let Neji and Hinata know we're back? They found Kaida's note, but I don't think they've been down here since…"

"You know, I still haven't met Hinata," Tenten told Sasuke while Naruto tried to think of a plan. "All those times in the city and she was never once with Neji."

"Shocking," Sasuke said, sounding bored.

After a small moment of silence, Naruto turned to the other two and shrugged. "I can't think of anything else, so I'm going to go sneak into the city tonight and go through the window."

Sarcastically, Sasuke said, "Oh, good plan." Naruto ignored him.

----

As Kaida and Konohamaru stopped for their fifteen-minute break, they looked at each other ruefully. The older girl was wondering how he could have lasted so long at this, and trying to remember when she could actually think of him as a kid. In turn, he was trying to guess if she was carrying more than him.

They were over halfway back, although Konohamaru wasn't sure beyond that. He was only just starting to recognize things, but still couldn't put a distance on how far they still had to go.

The cross-country trip had definitely given the two a big chance to bond, but very little was said as they caught their breath and tried to prepare their bodies for another couple hours of hauling bags of winter supplies.

Breaking the silence, Konohamaru gave into his curiosity and asked, "How much farther do we have to go?"

"If we're lucky…" Kaida paused to calculate in her head. She tried to over-estimate as she said, "Another two days… maybe a day and a half if we wake up and pack quickly then eat breakfast as we go tomorrow."

Konohamaru thought quickly. It was their first break since their early lunch. A day and a half would mean they could be there by tomorrow night. Standing up, he said, "Let's get going then."

----

That evening, Naruto ignored Tenten and Sasuke's abuse of his idea and left the camp, navigating easily between the trees, even in the dark. It didn't take him that long to reach Konoha, and he stopped at the edge of the trees to put on his disguise.

It was pretty simple. Tenten had created some easy tricks when she'd been going into the city on a regular basis, so that the guards never took a real interest in her. The one Naruto used now involved spreading a good amount of ashes into his hair, which worked well because of its light color. Then he threw a thick, nondescript cloak over his entire body, pulling it up to his chin and then the hood over his head and grabbed his walking stick. Bending his back, he managed to look like he was hobbling while really moving at a decent pace.

Knowing that Tenten had a knack for crinkling up the skin around her eyes that he didn't, Naruto leaned his head on his stick as he stopped and spoke with the guards when he reached the gates.

"Come to visit my kids," he explained in a decent attempt at an old man's voice. "Used to take me a lot less time to get here… reckon I left too late."

That simple, obvious denial got him through the gates. As he headed for the castle, he took a moment to celebrate before wiping some of the ash out of his hair. He wouldn't be leaving that way anyway.

The next challenge was to get up to Hinata's window without being seen. That was also easier than Naruto had anticipated, because by the time he reached the castle wall, it was pitch black. The moon was on the other side of the castle, so the closer he got the wall the deeper he got into shadows. And shadows had become Naruto's favorite setting since he'd been outlawed.

Even scaling the wall seemed easy, but Naruto decided not to push his luck by thinking about how easy this was turning out to be for very long. That would be asking for trouble.

When he reached the window, Naruto knocked quickly. To his surprise, it was opened quickly, and Hinata's shocked face appeared in front of his. "Naruto?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah," he responded, shifting his weight as he clung to the windowsill. "We got back today, and I wanted to tell you and Neji. How're you guys?"

Still surprised, Hinata said, "We're… we're good. Not great, or even normal, but we're doing alright." And then, because she wanted to sound normal, she said, "Hanabi scraped her entire leg but hasn't slowed down at all."

Naruto laughed, but was starting to cramp. "Tell Neji I'm back, OK? He can come see us so we can actually talk." She nodded, and he continued, "You should come too. You need to meet everyone, even though Konohamaru won't be there."

"Why do I need to meet them?"

He thought for a moment, and Hinata was disappointed, but then he said, "Because you're awesome."

She would have wondered if she was hallucinating, except she knew that Naruto's characteristically huge grin couldn't be hallucinated. He had just called her awesome.

"OK," Hinata said, sounding dazed to herself. She was glad that Naruto didn't notice things like that unless they became obvious. "I'll tell Neji."

Nodding, Naruto began to lower himself back down the wall. "Good! Make sure he lets you come, and I'll see you guys later."

Dreamily, Hinata said, "Bye."

----

"Are we almost there yet?"

"No. You'll know when we are."

"But what if I don't? How close are we?"

"I don't know—how close are we?"

"I just asked you that!" Konohamaru huffed and ended the brief conversation.

Feeling almost embarrassed for behaving like a kid, Kaida sighed. "Alright, we're about half a day away. And obviously, it's time for our lunch break," she said, coming to a stop.

"No, I can keep going," Konohamaru argued. "I don't need a break yet!"

Rolling her eyes, Kaida set her packs down and sat against a tree. "Well, I do. And you can't keep going on your own, so sit down."

He did it reluctantly, but since he did it she was the unofficial winner. They ate some of the bread in Konohamaru's heavier pack and the dried meat from Kaida's. They had also discovered that someone, Temari probably, had packed them some fruit, both fresh and dried. Since the fresh fruit would last long, even if it hadn't been being bounced around in packs all day, they had been eating that with most of their meals.

Just so that it wouldn't be wasted, of course.

"You know," Konohamaru commented as he bit into an apple, looking at all the other things in his open pack, "I think this is actually going to be a good winter."

Kaida grinned and nodded vigorously.

----

Neji arrived in the afternoon, Hinata tagging along behind him, looking lost. Before an awkward silence could fall, Naruto jumped up.

"Hinata!" He ran up to her and turned her to face the other two. "Hinata, this is Sasuke, and the girl is Tenten. Guys, this is Hinata."

Slightly uncomfortably, Hinata waved at the two nobles. Sasuke waved back briefly, but Tenten stood up and went over to the other girl.

She looked at Neji then back at Hinata. "She's adorable," Tenten informed Neji. "She looks like you, but so much cuter… And not as grumpy," she added as she studied Hinata's hair style.

The Hyuuga girl flushed under Tenten's scrutiny, but didn't seem to sense any real danger, so she stayed put.

Neji raised an eyebrow at Tenten's enthusiasm, but didn't comment. Sasuke seemed to take it in stride, although Naruto doubted he could have explained it. As the conversation dwindled down mostly to Tenten and Naruto, Neji coughed loudly.

"We've got an idea."

----

Sensing another change in the kid's pace, Kaida reached out and grabbed the back of Konohamaru's pack. "Stop speeding up," she ordered in a testy voice. "You've been doing it for the past two hours!"

He sighed and slowed down, but didn't stop completely. "I want to get there soon!"

"Well, seeing as I already agreed to not stop until we get there, can you at least keep it at a decent speed?" she asked, sighing.

Konohamaru sighed, too, but slowed down. "Are we almost there yet?"

After looking around, a grin spread over Kaida's face. She answered, "Yeah, actually. We'll probably be there soon, even if you don't start run—Hey!" He was speeding up again, switching entirely out of a walk into an eager jog. Kaida tried again, "Hey!"

He didn't respond, and she reluctantly sped up to match his pace. She could kill him when they got there.

----

Neji had just finished outlining his plan when they heard the noise. At first, all five of them tensed, but then the sources of the noise burst into the clearing. Konohamaru was slightly in front, with Kaida on his heels. The reason that they burst through the undergrowth, when both of them had learned how to be quiet in the forest, was their speed. They both ground to a halt when they saw the small circle of people staring up at them.

"We're back," Konohamaru said joyfully.

And, for some reason, Kaida lifted her fist and punched his arm before taking off her packs and dropping them next to the boy.

----

Author's note!

So, not a bad chappie… I wasn't sure where to end it, so that explains the random ending.

Anyway, REVIEW FOR LOVE AND POPCORN!!


	11. A Brawl

Taking to the Woods

Chapter Eleven: A Brawl

----

Hinata blinked. All five outlaws had pretty much accepted Neji's plan without argument. Konohamaru was as eager as ever to get rid of Orochimaru, and the others seemed to have a weird agreement with that idea. Hinata wouldn't have picked Sasuke as someone who _wanted_ the throne, but she wasn't going to complain.

Sitting in between Kaida, who seemed sore but alert, and Neji, Hinata felt oddly at ease in the forest. She could understand how Kaida, who had always been adventure-seeking, could call this place home.

While his sister mused, Neji was going over the details of how they would pull off their plan. The simplicity of it bothered him. Overthrow Orochimaru. Overthrow Itachi. Go home.

That sounded like something that would crash and burn, but he couldn't think of anything better. As if sensing his worry, Tenten called an end to the meeting.

Summing things up, Sasuke said, "So we'll do this in three days?"

"Yeah," Neji said, helping Hinata up and nodding, "See you then."

----

_Three days later…_

Konohamaru was on edge, so he watched the others prepare. The truth was, he didn't know what to do. So he watched everyone else.

Predictably, Sasuke was sitting calmly, sharpening his sword. Meanwhile, Tenten was pulling weapons out of her bag and putting them on one of the three sheathes wrapped around her waist. When she finished, she checked the rest of her weapons, which were hidden in her clothes.

Kaida had, along with her bow and arrows, three long knives strapped around her waist, all on the same side so that they were next to each other. When she caught him looking, she touched the top of one. "They're dirks," she explained. "Long knives with longer handles than normal." She left a minute after that to change into her black outfit, which Neji had brought for her the day before.

He went to see how Naruto was doing. The blond boy was carefully placing some homemade, round explosives in the pockets of his long coat. Konohamaru didn't ask what they did. Instead, he checked his boots and the bow Naruto had given him. To his embarrassment, it was shorter than Naruto, Kaida or Tenten's, but it suited him perfectly. He couldn't be that small… Unless he was. Konohamaru's nervousness fell away as he mentally compared the size of his bow to Naruto's, and began to pout.

And then it was time to go. The five outlaws looked at each other for what would hopefully be the last time as outlaws before leaving the clearing. Their stuff was all still there, so they would be back. But for now, they had all they wanted.

The journey to Konoha seemed abnormally short to Naruto, and he tried to ignore the slowly vanishing shade. They had decided to attack at daytime, when the guards were bored, but it put Naruto on edge as they emerged from the forest and into the clear sunlight.

He felt exposed, and tried to ignore it as they approached Konoha.

As Neji had predicted, their bold appearance surprised the guards. Sasuke stepped forward and said, "I'm Prince Sasuke. Move aside and let me in."

They stared at him in disbelief, and one guard lowered his spear, saying, "We're supposed to capture you."

"Really?" Sasuke raised one dark eyebrow. "That's unfortunate."

And, as if it was a codeword, Tenten pulled two knives out of nowhere and threw them hilt-first at the guards. They went down, stunned, and Tenten went over calmly to pick up her knives. They had decided not to kill the guards, because they would probably need them later to fight Itachi.

Disdainfully stepping over the guards, Tenten motioned for the others to come in.

Their plan was simple: Use their identities to create some shock and confusion, and then fight their way in and deal with Orochimaru.

After seeing their easy disposal of the guards, people moved out of the outlaws' way. Naruto sent several of them cheery grins they didn't return. A couple of them recognized Konohamaru and stared at him as he walked by. The boy's nervousness seemed to heighten at this attention, and he stared straight ahead.

The next challenge came at the entrance to the castle, and this time Naruto stepped forward. "Hello," he said cheerily. "I'm Naruto—I believe you put a price on my head. How much was it again?"

"Three hundred gold coins," Konohamaru said faithfully as Sasuke and Kaida stepped forward, knocking the three guards over their heads with the hilts of their blades.

Kaida slipped her dirk back into the sheath and took her strung bow off her shoulders instead, but Sasuke kept his sword out. They met surprisingly few guards as they ran through the castle hallways, which was explained as they rounded the last corner to the door to Orochimaru's rooms. Hinata was standing outside the door, talking slowly to the guards.

They were looking at her as if she was stupid, but Neji was already behind them, using his own special move to send them sprawling to the floor. He moved aside as they fell, and Hinata rushed forward to pick the lock.

Smirking, Neji looked at the outlaws. "Almost there," he said, avoiding sounding cocky, but still smug. As he spoke, the door swung open under Hinata's touch.

"Got it," she said, standing up. Naruto gave her a curious look that said that he hadn't known she could pick locks. She shrugged, "Hanabi taught me."

Neji looked at her pointedly and said, "Speaking of Hanabi…" His sister sighed, and dashed off again, presumably going to find the youngest Hyuga.

Stringing his bow, Naruto looked around at the other five and took a deep breath. "Alright then, let's go in." Neji threw the doors open before lifting his bow and drawing an arrow back to his ear.

Against all logic, the Sheriff was standing in the middle of the first room, completely alone. In the moment of surprise that followed, guards appeared behind the outlaws, forcing them into the room and into a large, chaotic fight.

Reluctant to leave Orochimaru at their backs, Neji fired several arrows in his direction before whirling around to face the onslaught of guards, who were lifting their arms and moving around enough to reveal the weak spots in their armor.

Since she was the closest to the door, Kaida had the most to deal with originally. The guards seemed to view Neji or Tenten or Sasuke as a greater threat, which suited Kaida better. As the rushed past her, she caught them in the sides or the arms, so that when they turned to face her, they were already wounded. Konohamaru was standing near her, providing vital protection when too many guards came near her at once. His smaller bow was effective at close range, and he shot as well as he had when they were firing at trees in the forest.

Tenten had moved to stand near Neji, throwing knives and the occasional explosive faster than he could fire an arrow. Close to them was Sasuke, taking opponents one by one, sending them to the ground with a few well-executed sword moves.

And directly in the middle, Naruto was proving himself a first-class melee fighter. He moved quickly, never dealing entirely with one opponent, whirling, jumping and running while punching anyone in a guard's uniform. At one point, he used one of his special bombs, shoving it up one unfortunate guard's breastplate and running. The guard got it out of his armor, only to have everyone else nearby get caught in the blast.

The results were several downed guards, and the rest of them being extremely scared to go near Naruto again.

It was, Neji contemplated as the flow of soldiers slowed to a stop, amazingly easy. He'd thought that the fight for Konoha would be harder than this, but instead the guards were unprepared and undertrained. He made a mental note to change that before they went up against Itachi.

And, just as Neji was making his mental note, the fight was over. Naruto whirled around, his energy making him ready to fight Orochimaru. But the Sheriff was dead. Or close enough—he'd been lying on the ground and bleeding since three of Neji's arrows had found him at the beginning of the brawl.

----

The sudden end to the fight left most of the ex-outlaws feeling restless. But they were ex-outlaws now, and they had been given fancy rooms and new clothes.

There had been a small debate over who should be the Sheriff, but it had eventually ended when they realized that everyone was bleeding and bruised. Konohamaru had run and gotten his grandfather, and they'd turned things over to him.

That first night, Tenten had been reluctant to set foot in the large, feather-down bed that took up a good part of her large, fancy room. The problem had been solved when Kaida, who had never seen a bed like those but had grown used to the ground and hearing other people breath around her. They pulled the sheets and blankets off Tenten's bed and camped out on the lushly carpeted floor.

They passed several days like that, none of them sure what to do with themselves.

Without Itachi's permission, and for something he definitely wouldn't like, Sarutobi made Naruto and Kaida nobility, and gave Sasuke, Tenten, Konohamaru and the entire Hyuuga family an honor.

Unfortunately, all the two new nobles discovered in the next few days was how very little there was to do.

As they shifted focus to fighting Itachi, that slowly changed.

Hinata's favorite example was during the last embroidery session she attended. Tenten and Kaida were there, although neither of them had an interest in sewing beyond patching clothes. Upon their entrance, things went deadly silent.

One of the more outspoken ladies broke that silence. "You're the ones who got rid of Orochimaru!" she gushed, and then turned specifically to Tenten. "You're Prince Sasuke's friend!"

All of the ladies had fallen for Sasuke's charm. And due to the pair's complete reluctance to get married, both Sasuke and Tenten had decided to forget they were engaged. It apparently wasn't official, so both were confident they could 'forget' for the rest of their lives

"Yeah," Tenten responded easily, shrugging. "We're all his friends. And Neji's friends, and Naruto's friends—"

She was cut off by a collective gasp. Another lady, whose embroidery had fallen off her lap completely, jumped and stared avidly at Tenten, who suddenly looked uncomfortable. "You… you know Prince Naruto?"

Kaida made a weird noise in her nose that sounded like a repressed snort. She buried her mouth under her hand, doubtless trying not to laugh. Tenten replied, looking amused, "Prince of what, exactly?"

"The woods, of course," the lady replied. She stayed upright and superior for a moment before succumbing to curiosity again and saying excitedly, "Do you really know him?"

"Yeah," Kaida said, recovering and letting Tenten focus on controlling herself. "Actually, we promised we'd meet him."

She stood up, and Tenten followed quickly. There was a collective gasp when Hinata stood up, and Tenten and Kaida stood on either side of her for support as they walked out.

----

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Yes, I'm aware that it's late, kind of random, and the ending is bad. I don't really have anything else to say about it.

Ignoring that, please review!

I have _pudding_ today!


	12. A Solution

Taking to the Woods

Chapter Twelve: A Solution

----

"Well, obviously we can't just declare war on him," Tenten said peevishly as the teenagers reached the end of their first hour trying to come up with a plan for fighting Itachi.

Naruto, who had brought up the idea Tenten was against, responded in an equally annoyed voice, "Why not? It worked on Orochimaru."

Sasuke just snorted.

Shaking his head, Neji sighed and took Tenten's side. "We don't have enough time to get to his castle and attack before he hears about what we did here. And his guards are better trained. We had the element of surprise here, and we need that again."

This logical statement sent the group into a thoughtful silence, and Konohamaru, who was beginning to look as impatient as Naruto, said, "It was easier in the forest. Now we have all these people, but no plan."

"We don't even have that many people," Tenten added glumly. "And they're still not trained well enough to go to war."

"We can always call on Suna," Kaida said, sounding only marginally hopeful.

Konohamaru scowled. "As if that guy'll help us," he said angrily, referring to the Sheriff. Kaida's expression dropped, and silence reigned again.

So far, Hinata had remained quiet. She kept feeling like she had an idea, but she couldn't figure out what it was. Going back through the previous conversation in mind, she tried to hit on something that might be useable.

It happened suddenly, as most of her good ideas did, and she gasped loudly and sat straight up. When the others sent her confused looks, and she hurried to explain. "You guys got really good at ambushing people in the forest, right? Well, if you had a few more people, like Neji, couldn't you do that to a royal caravan?"

Naruto continued to look confused, but Neji understood immediately. "Sasuke would send a letter to Itachi, threatening to accuse him of trying to kill his family for the throne is he doesn't come here to negotiate. Itachi will come with a huge amount of guards, but we'll catch them on the road through the woods, and then bring Itachi here and be on our terms."

A decent strategist, Tenten caught on next. "Hinata, you're brilliant," she said, leaping up. "This way, Itachi hearing about how we took over this castle will be a _good_ thing!" She sent the younger girl a large grin.

On Hinata's left side, Kaida seemed to be extremely proud of her friend, manifested in grabbing her into a celebratory hug, interrupted when Sasuke stood up and straightened his shirt briskly.

Things fell silent extremely quickly, but he only said in his normal way, "I'll go start writing a letter."

Hinata felt a sort of relieved pride when a hand fell on her shoulder. She looked up to see Naruto's smiling face, and her breath almost stopped. Unaware of his affect, Naruto said cheerily, "That was great Hinata; I always knew you were smart."

He walked away with Konohamaru, and Hinata started to breathe again, ignoring Kaida's poorly-concealed snickers from behind her hand.

----

It was Neji's idea to contact Suna, knowing that if they didn't now, they wouldn't get a chance to. He asked Kaida and Konohamaru about the best way to approach the Sheriff, which turned out to be a bad idea.

"Don't," was Konohamaru's blunt suggestion.

Looking to Kaida for a better answer, Neji was surprised when she just nodded. The Hyuga looked back at Konohamaru and sighed. "You've got to have some idea."

They pondered that for a moment before Kaida offered, "Well, he was mostly weird to us because he thought we were criminals and kidnappers. You should probably go at him with authority, and demand respect."

Neji nodded thoughtfully and stood to leave. This would take some more planning.

----

Neji and Tenten ended up going, putting the final stages of the plan (sending Sasuke's letter and choosing the ambush spot, as well as setting up a spy network in case Itachi chose a different road) to Hinata and Sarutobi. They were going on horseback, which would make the journey almost easy, but Tenten was still grumbling.

They were going to flaunt their nobility, which meant that Tenten had a brush and actual dress stowed in one of her bags, and she wasn't happy about it. For the three days that they were on the road to Suna, when they bothered to talk, they would have conversations about why Tenten had to be Lady Tenten, and why she couldn't just be his escort.

It usually ended with Neji saying testily, "I'm _your_ escort, Tenten. We couldn't bring Sasuke, so you're the highest rank we've got." Her father had left her his land and title, and being related to her mother pushed Tenten up and above the Hyugas.

She returned to grumbling. But when they had almost reached Suna, she stopped her horse and grabbed the bag, going behind a thick clump of trees to change. When she emerged again, she barely looked like Tenten; except for the evil look she was sending Neji.

In turn, Neji kept his expression blank and only asked, "Do you still have any weapons on you?"

"Of course," she said, her mood lightening somewhat at the thought.

They rode the rest of the way into Suna at a reasonable pace, and Neji was pleased when Tenten's titles got them taken immediately to the Sheriff. Impatient to be done, Tenten seemed pleased by that development as well, until the gate shut loudly behind them.

Knowing she felt trapped, Neji did his best to act at ease as they were led to a spacious office, occupied by Gaara and a man who could have been his forty-year-old twin.

The redhead's eyes widened and Neji nodded reassuringly at him while Tenten played with her skirts. Clearing his throat, Neji took charge of the conversation.

"My lord, we represent Konoha. We are staging a revolt against Prince Itachi in favor of his brother, Sasuke. We request your assistance."

It was a straight show of force and power to try and gain Suna's help. Neji knew it was a risky gamble, because they were asking for help at all, but they were throwing names around. Tenten, Sasuke, the Hyugas… They were all for the cause, and all big names, but it was still risky.

Neji could have cursed when, instead of going for the bluff, the Sheriff sneered. "I won't help people who would harbor dangerous criminals," he said pointedly.

"Excuse me?" Neji bluffed again, raising his eyebrow in the famous Hyuga look.

"Don't play stupid, boy," Gaara's father said, to his son's embarrassment. Looking at the other two in apology, Gaara remained silent but seemed thoughtful. Continuing, the Sheriff said, "The outlaws who kidnapped my children are being rewarded by Sarutobi, whom you've pulled out of the woodwork to take charge, even though he was retired for a reason."

Feeling angry for Konohamaru, Tenten stepped forward. "Your children were not kidnapped," she said coldly. "And I had come to consider them friends before we parted, but obviously you don't care about details. Thank you for your time."

And she moved to leave, followed by the bemused Neji. They would have left, too, but Gaara stopped them. "Wait," he said quietly. Then, in a blank tone, he said to his father, "They're here because we promised to help them. If you refuse, then Temari, Kankuro and I will go with them on our own."

Neji got the feeling that the Sheriff would have scoffed, except for the deadly serious look in Gaara's eyes. But still, the man didn't say anything, and his son sighed before following after Neji and Tenten, who were leaving again.

----

Hinata had taken to staring out any window that faced the road. Even if it offered a view of the courtyard, or the wall, she liked to stare out and listen for any sounds that might mean Neji was back.

Finding it depressing, Kaida didn't join her friend in these vigils, but didn't pull Hinata away either. The brunette missed both Neji and Tenten, but as no word returned from Itachi, she became occupied preparing for his inevitable arrival.

Sasuke was usually out watching the roads, wanting to be the first to know his brother was near. He would be gone overnight sometimes, and was almost always gone the entire day. Naruto usually joined him, which bothered Kaida because Naruto was a proven cure for Hinata's moods.

It annoyed Konohamaru as well, but only because the boy was missing the woods, now that his grandfather was keeping him close again. "It's stupid," he told Kaida one day, sulking. "I finally proved I could survive on my own, and he's still treating me like a little kid."

Musing, Kaida replied, "Can't live with him, can't live without him."

"But I can live without him!" Konohamaru retorted hotly.

"But you missed him."

There was a pause as Konohamaru tried to think of a reply to that. Finally, he stormed off and the conversation was over.

Things were tense.

So, after nearly a week of Neji's absence, when Naruto and Sasuke returned after an overnight absence, Kaida greeted them by grabbing Naruto's collar and pulling him away.

After settling down from trying to escape (she'd stopped walking but help on grimly), Naruto finally asked, "What are you doing?"

"You need to tell Hinata everything's going to be alright. Neji's still not back yet, and she's starting to freak out, and you're the only one she'll believe," Kaida replied in a monotone that had the sound of a repeated rant.

"Why would she only believe me?" Naruto asked, incredulous. The only reply he received was an exasperated sigh.

Before Naruto could convince Kaida to elaborate, they had reached Hinata. Naruto was surprised—she seemed neat as always, but she was wearing warmer clothes than he thought she would normally need, and she had lost wait.

Bluntly, Naruto said, "Hinata, you're making yourself sick."

She jumped a little, as if she hadn't heard them approach, and Kaida slipped away, leaving them alone. Continuing, Naruto said, "You know they're not in trouble. They're probably on their way back right now."

"I know," Hinata said faintly. But Naruto didn't believe her.

"No, but you should. The only danger any of us are in is Itachi, and Sasuke and I have been out waiting for him, so we'll know way before he gets here that he's coming. Neji's smart, anyway, so he can avoid trouble if he gets in any."

Finished, Naruto huffed and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"I know," Hinata repeated, louder this time. "I'm not worried about them right now—I'm worried about when they get back. You're all going to attack Itachi, and then try and bargain with him. But if he catches you, instead; or if the army attacks us to get him back…"

Her voice trailed off, but Naruto didn't need to hear more. "Won't happen," He said stoutly. "I promise: everything's going to be fine."

And she sighed and turned away from the window, smiling because she believed him.

----

Yay me, I've updated!

Stuff'll happen next chapter, but only if you REVIEW… Review… review…


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